Twas' beauty that saved the beast
by Mkay-212
Summary: Julie Martin, much like her younger sister, is one of those rare people in life. A beauty and a brain. Upon receiving a grant to start her research, she returns to Beacon Hills for a much needed reunion with her sister, Lydia. Julie has been mending a broken heart for months over Derek, who left to investigate his sisters murder. Now they're reunited and it isn't pretty. OC/Derek
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Guys! So, I just wanted to first say that although this story is under my name, and my account, it is actually a collaboration with **_AlphaGamJen..._ **The story was originally her idea, but then it grew as we both shared our thoughts on it. Basically it's my words, but our thoughts and ideas. So much credit is being given to her! Also, if you are readers from my other stories, Thank You So Much for your continued support! This story is going to start off in a flashback and then we'll be introducing a new character at the end of Season 1 Episode 7 Night School. We'll follow very loosely to the show. Hope you all enjoy!**

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_**-FLASHBACK-Four years ago-Stanford University**_

Pencils: Check

Pens (Blue and Black): Check

Proper Notebooks: Check

Glasses: Check

Graphing Calculator: Check

Bookbag: Check

_"Are you going through your check list again?" _My sister had always known me so well. I was trying to come up with a slight lie when her voice came from the other end of the phone again. _"I'm sure you are perfectly prepared. Bigger question is what are you wearing?" _Just like always, fashion was always on her mind.

_"Skinny jeans, my boots, tourquoise tank, and my hair is the same way it has been for two years now." _I knew she was going to ask about my hair, she always asks about my hair.

"_You would find a guy much easier if you showed off your assets a little more. Good thing you are brilliant." _I laughed off her snarky remark.

_"Love you too sis."_ I looked over at my corvette alarm clock, and quickly grabbed my bag._ "I've got to go. I'll call sometime later."_

_"You better not. You better be out partying with some hot guy. I mean it Jules, don't call me. And put on a dress!" _She was still talking to me when I hung up the phone. I rushed out of my dorm room and down six flights of stairs.

I got into my class, and noticed that the guy to girl ratio was probably ten guys to one girl and there couldn't have been more than fifty people in the class. Lovely. It's good to know that engineering stereotypes was still at large in the world. I found a seat on the left side of the room. The words on the board read ENGR 40 Introductory Electronics. Well, I knew that I was in the right place.

I looked around at all the guys around me, and I say guys because I was quite literally one of five girls. In the front two rows were your typical overly eager and studious boys. And I say boys because they were at the maturity level of freshman in high school. Then the few girls were gathered in a corner probably talking about the latest fandom they have all joined. One row back from them we have the guys who were generally interested in engineering because that's all they've ever been good at. Finally in the back we have the 'bad boys' all of them in a wife beater and jeans and boots. Every ten minutes I would probably hear the small group of girls giggling about which one of them they thought they could save. When in reality, those guys were only after one type of girl, and it wasn't them. Then you have the side of the room where I'm at, the few, the proud, the misfits.

I smiled when the professor walked in. He was the picture perfect college professor. Shorter, with glasses and a slimmer build. He looked at all of us and gave us a small smile. The type of smile that showed both pity and admiration. I knew why he had smiled at us in such a way. The gen ed. classes for engineers were tough for one reason, to weed out the weaklings. I, however, was not going to be one of them.

"Good morning class. If you have read the board then you know that this is Introductory Electronics. If you have not enrolled in this class, then you are in the wrong place." He looked up at each of us, I guess he was giving us a way out if we wanted it. "Wonderful! Well let's get star..." The door opened right as he was in the middle of his sentence.

In walked a rugged looking guy. A few inches taller than me, leather jacket and jeans. Typical garage guy. "Err...sorry." The professor gave him a look of slight disappointment before motioning for him to sit down. I expected him to go sit in the back with the typical 'bad boy' guys, but I was surprised when he came and sat down in my corner of the room. He sat in a chair one chair away from me. He didn't look at anybody, but he wasn't rude about it either. The professor started to speak again, and I turned my attention to him.

The whole class period I couldn't help but steal glances at him. I didn't know what his name was or how or why he was in this class, but he intrigued me. He didn't take any notes, he only doodled the same thing over and over. Three spirals, all attached, in a kind of triangle way. I got lost in staring at his drawing, it was just so captivating.

"Look your left and right. If you have no one on your right, then look to the person on you left. If you have no one on your left, then look to your right. That is going to be you class partner starting now. There's ten minutes left in class, I'll give you that time to get better acquainted with your new found partners." I couldn't decide if I was excited to have this guy as my partner or scared. There was an aura about him that said he walked on the fine line between them both.

I threw out my hand to him to introduce my self. "I'm Julie." I smiled, but he didn't reach out to shake it, nor did he smile back. Instead, he seemed to size me up. "This is the part where you tell me your name..." He was quiet, but something told me it wasn't because he was shy. He just didn't see a need in speaking to people.

"Oh and did I forget to tell you that this entire class is a partnered class. That means that every homework assignment, paper, and project will be a joint effort between you and your partner." The professor just informed me of what could be the death of me, academically and maybe emotionally. I hadn't decided yet.

I turned back over to him but he was gone. All the students were leaving, walking with friends or their class partner. I looked around a little frantically, searching for my still unnamed guy. I jogged down the stairs and out of the building. I looked around at all these faceless bodies. I didn't recognize anyone and then I heard a whistle. I turned on my heels and saw him leaning up against the building.

"I'm used to girls chasing me, but I think you made a new record. I didn't even speak one word to you, yet you are out here looking like a crazy person. Just trying to find me." He was smirking, and I think he was making fun of me.

I marched up to him, I had to deal with adolescent guys before but this one reached a whole new level. "Listen. I worked hard to get here and I'm not going to let some too-cool-for-school guy take me down in his attempts to prove something to the world." He pushed himself off of the wall and walked towards me.

Something changed in his eyes, he didn't look completely detached like before. He through his hand out and said, "I'm Derek." He grinned, and something told me that he got plenty of girls into bed with just that grin alone.

"Well at least I know you have a name." He kept my hand in his, and I didn't even really notice at first. "And you might be used to having all the girls chase you, Derek. But I am going to have to bear some bad news," I leaned in to slightly whisper, "You're not my type." I pulled my hand back and smiled politely up to him. "I'll see you on Wednesday in class then?" He kept silent and I turned to walk away. "If you are staring at my ass, then I guess you can keep looking because that's as close as you are getting to it." I heard him chuckle before I heard him speak.

"I'm everyone's type!" I didn't turn around when he spoke, but I knew that he was right. And I also knew that this was going to be hell with him being my partner, I didn't need any distractions.

* * *

**Present Day- Four Years later**

_"Mom! Would you calm down? Is dad there? Let me talk to him." _All I did was tell her that I was coming home, and she decides to go on a huge rant about getting things ready.

_"Hey Sweetpea. So you're coming home? That's wonderful news!" _I loved my dad, he wasn't your typical strong man type of dad. But he was sweet and the only sane one in the family. I felt bad leaving him alone with both my mom and Lydia. I love Lydia with all my heart, but she definitely took after mom.

_"Hey... and yeah, I'm on my way now. Is it cool if I take my old room until I find an apartment or something? I know this is literally the shortest amount of notice but it was a split second decision." _The plan was to go to school for another two years for another degree, but then I was given a grant to start my own research on a new prototypes of electronics. And since Derek had left, without saying when he would be back, I had nothing left up at Stanford. That left only one place left to go, home.

_"Of course sweetpea! You just come on home. We've all missed you around here. Your sister will be happy to hear you are coming back." _Not that I wasn't happy to be coming back home, but Derek and I had plans. Plans to live together after graduation and do research together. It's been months since I have heard from him. I guess I was just still raw from it all.

_"Where is my baby sister? On a date with Jackson I assume?" _They really were a cute couple. A very odd couple, but then again not that odd. Jackson, the golden boy, of the entire town and my sister. She was beautiful and brilliant and I never understood why she didn't flaunt her brains. No, she would rather set fashion trends and run the school. She hid behind a tough exterior, and the only person that was really capable of breaking that exterior was Jackson. If I didn't know that underneath his own tough exterior, he loved her I would be worried about them.

_"He picked her up just a few minutes ago. So, you almost home then?" _I could still hear my mother talking about preparations in the back. I laughed softly, but smiled into the phone.

_"I'm about an hour out. I'll see you in a bit. Love you!" _I hung up the phone before my mother had a chance to get back on the line.

* * *

I pulled into my old driveway just under an hour later. My mom rushed out of the front door, waiving her hands around like crazy.

"Oh my sweet sweet girl is home!" I was barely out of the car before she had her arms locked around my neck. I could hear that she was crying. Yes, I haven't been home in a few years, but they've paid me visits.

"Mom...mom.." She still had a vice grip on me. "Mom!" It took me literally shouting to get her attention.

"I'm sorr...I'm sorry. I just missed you is all." I felt a little ping of regret at yelling at her, only a little ping.

I turned to face my dad, who pulled me into a bear hug. "Hey sweetpea." I felt his breath on my hair, and I never knew how great it felt to hug my own father.

I noticed that they were dressed up. Like really dressed up. Dad had on a suit, and my mom was in one her more fancy dresses with heels. "Are you going out...somewhere?"

My dad scratched at his temple. "Sorry sweetpea, but we have ticket for a play that's out of town. But we can cancel if you wanted to have a proper reunion and stay in..." It was sweet for him to offer, but it was clear that they were both pretty excited about this play.

"Since when does this family do things the proper way? Go! Go and have a great time. I'm just going to go and...unpack." I shooed them away in the direction of their car. They pulled out, leaving me standing in the driveway alone.

I turned back to my car and started unloading the boxes of stuff. It was a good thing I had a regular workout plan, because all of this stuff was pretty heavy. I dropped the first box down in the foyer. A sense of home and my childhood washed over me the minute I stepped in to the house.

Probably an hour and forty minutes later, after I got all the boxes in and up the stairs, my phone rang.

"Dad, you are supposed to be enjoying a play not checking up on your twenty- three year old daughter..." I was laughing but when I heard nothing from the other end of the phone line I knew something was wrong.

"Sweetpea, there's been a terrible incident at the high school. You're mother and I are a little over an hour away and we can't get there in time." Lydia. Something had happened to Lydia.

"I'll go get her. I'll go, I'm walking out the door now. I'll call you guys when I figure out what happened." I hung up the phone and pulled out my keys.

I was out of the drive way and at the high school only about ten minutes later. I'd say that it was actually a twenty-minute drive. I jumped out of the car and saw a swarm of police vehicles and ambulances. I looked everywhere but I couldn't find Lydia. I ran up to one of the police officers, and saw that he looked frazzled as well.

"Lydia Martin. Where is she?" He looked up at me, wide eyed. I went to repeat myself but he pointed to one of the ambulances. "Thank you!" I called back as I jogged up to the ambulance.

"You are my boyfriend Jackson Whittmore. Not hers. You will take me home." That was her voice, and my heart never felt such relief in it's life.

I rounded the corner of the ambulance and saw her wrapped in a blanket, obviously pissed at Jackson. She looked up and noticed that I was standing there. "Jules?" She got down from the ambulance and walked towards me. I wrapped her up in my arms and held her for a minute.

Jackson looked over at us and he narrowed his eyes at me. He walked up after I released Lydia from my hold and instead of him saying something, he pulled me into a huge hug. "Welcome home Velma!" He has called me that since the first time he met me. I was wearing an orange sweater and I had on my glasses. He said I looked like the girl from Scooby-Doo, and he dubbed me Velma.

"Hey there Golden Boy." I, however, did not have a clever nickname for him.

"Uhh-Hmm." Lydia cleared her throat. "Yeah, little sister here. What the ...holy-hell... are you doing here?" That's right, she didn't know I was coming back.

"I got that grant. So I am back here in Beacon Hills for a year to do my research. Surprise...?" She smacked my arm, but then she smiled at me.

"That's for not telling me you were coming back. But I'm glad you are here." She looked around, behind both of my shoulders. "Where's Mr. McHottie?" Oh. She was talking about Derek. Well, this is awkward.

"I'll tell you when we get back to the house." I remembered her yelling at Jackson before I walked up. "You want to ride back with me?" Jackson looked from me, to Lydia, to this girl standing a little ways away, then to the ground. Lydia saw him stare at the girl, and I could see her blood pressure rising. We were all staring at her, except now she wasn't alone. A boy had walked up and when she turned around, it was clear that she was crying. I don't know what had happened, but it seemed to have really shaken her up.

Lydia turned to me. "Actually, that looked like a nasty break-up. I'm going to go and make sure she is alright. Jackson will give me a ride afterwards." She nodded over at the sheriff, before speaking again. "Plus I think Mr. Stilinski needs to talk to all the parents, and since you are who showed up. You should go talk to him." I really looked at her now. She didn't seem that upset or shaken, but Lydia was the queen at hiding her true emotions. So, I wasn't going to get her story until we were alone.

I looked over at Jackson. "You get her home soon, Golden Boy." He nodded once before leaning in and giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"Of course. It was good to see you." He and Lydia walked over and the girl wrapped Lydia up. I supposed Lyds was right, it must have been a nasty break up. Poor girl. Before I turned away to go talk to the sheriff, I noticed that Jackson was looking at the girl with more than concern for a friend. Then I took a longer look at the girl. She had to have been new, because Lydia hadn't told me about her. But I'm sure she will now.

I turned to walk over to the sheriff. He looked busy reprimanding a smaller guy with a buzz cut. "Well, I don't know what to tell you Stiles. You'll have to get it to the shop tomorrow." The boy threw his hands up in the air and let my eyes follow to where he was walking. I saw a jeep, or what was left of a jeep. It looked like someone had taken a sledge hammer to hood.

The sheriff turned around and face me then. "Yes, how may I help you Miss...?"

"Martin. I'm Lydia's older sister. What happened?" He let out a breath and put his hand on the back of his neck.

"We had a break in at the school. When we arrived, my son's jeep had been vandalized. It appears that we have a killer.."

"A killer?! Well, do you have suspects in custody? Who is it?" I knew that I was freaking out, but I was a worried older sister. I leave Beacon Hills, come back and apparently there is a killer still at large.

"We have a few leads. One that I will be announcing later tonight. But the important thing is that the kids are all safe. They seem to be a little shaken up, but they are okay." He handed me a card, his card it seemed. "Please feel free to call me if you have any more questions or if Lydia remembers anything else." He gave me a smile of pity for my sister, and I returned the same smile because it couldn't be easy working a case like this.

The boy, Stiles, I think the sheriff called him, was at his jeep. I walked over to take a look at his jeep. It was much worse up close. His head was under the bent hood, looking at something.

"So, what's wrong with it?" He leaned up so quick that he hit his head on the hood.

"Uh...well. I don't have a battery. And I just don't really know what else is wrong. It looks like some wires are ripped and what not." Poor guy, he looked so down.

"I have an extra battery in my car, and fixing cars is kind of my specialty if you want me to take a look at it?" Normally I wouldn't just offer a stranger, let alone a high school kid, my services when it came to mechanical things. But this one reminded me of Bambi. He looked from me back over to the sheriff and then back to me.

"Uh...yeah. Yeah, just let me go tell my dad." He jogged over to the sheriff. Interesting... he's the sheriff's son. No wonder he was near the danger, they always are.

I looked under the hood, and immediately realized that my spare battery would fit. I walked over and pulled my car up next to his jeep. I got out and it was perfect timing because he was coming back.

"I don't even know who are you." I smiled up at him and then seemed to help him relax a little bit. I put my tool box down by the front left tire.

"Julie Martin. I'm Lydia's sister." I watched his eyes bug out a little bit.

"Lydia has a sister?" I looked up at him and smiled again.

"She didn't get her red hair from our mother." He gave me this kind of goofy grin.

"Her hair is red." I looked up at him and gave him a "duh" look and he laughed. "So, you know your way around an engine then?"

I was putting the battery in and I didn't look up at him. "I went to Stanford for mechanical engineering."

"Wow! So you know your way around more than an engine." He sounded impressed.

"Yeah, you could say that." I gestured for him to get in the driver's seat. "Turn the engine." He did as I asked.

It rolled over and purred smoothly. "Haha! I could kiss you!" He got out of the car and did this crazy jump and dance thing. I couldn't hold in my laughter. He dropped to his knees and did a bow. " .Amazing."

"Well, I appreciate the royal treatment. But I can't fix your hood. You'll have to get a brand new one. And these wires will only hold for a few days. I can fix it up for you permanently, you'll just have to get me the parts." A quick fix was the best I could do for the kid right now.

"Alright. I can do that." Now that I had done him a favor, I was hoping that I could get some answers.

"Bring them by the house whenever you get them. It shouldn't take me more than an hour to fix it." He nodded his head vigorously. "Can I ask you something Stiles?" I was wiping my hands off with a rag when he looked up to me again and nodded. "What happened tonight? Who did this to your jeep?" I ran my hands across the hood and saw the claw marks. My heart stopped.

It couldn't be. I looked up at Stiles, and saw that he was struggling at first. A lie was going to come out of his mouth. "We were attacked. It was just me and Scott to begin with, but then Allison, Jackson, and Lydia showed up." Allison must have been that girl. "We barricaded ourselves in the chemistry room. Scott went out to check things out. While he was gone, the police showed up." He kept it all short and simple. I believed what he said, but I also was positive that he hiding something. And from the looks of his jeep, it was a big, hairy, and deadly something.

"Who was it?" I couldn't take my eyes off of the marks. They were just like the marks that Derek showed me...the claw marks of a werewolf. It took me months to really cope with the fact that my boyfriend was a monster. But he proved that he would never hurt anyone. These marks might have been made by a werewolf, but it couldn't be Derek. She had to believe that.

"I honestly don't know." That was the truth. He answered so fast, and he breathed the words out. There was no way that he could have been lying.

"Well, I better get back to Lydia. Lots to catch up on." I was walking back to my car when he stopped me.

"Is she okay?" I turned around and saw that there was real worry on his face. "She just seemed a little shaken up when we were in the classroom. And I know that she is tough, but I saw that she was really...scared." This kid really did care about my sister, interesting since I was pretty sure she paid him no attention.

I gave him a reassuring smile. "She'll be okay. She's strong."

"Yeah. I know. So strong that she doesn't let anyone in." I think he was speaking more to himself than to me. "Can you just let her know that if she wants, or needs to talk...that I'm here." This kid was seriously the most precious thing in the world.

"Of course." I got into my car and drove off.

* * *

I was driving down the road, back to my house, and the only thing that was on my mind was Derek. Derek and the first time he ever showed me that he was a werewolf. He didn't really have a choice, I had given him an ultimatum. Either he told me the truth, or I walked away from him. It was a huge risk, because I didn't want to walk away. Fortunately, he didn't either. He brought me out into the middle of the woods, in the middle of no where. He asked me not to freak out. Which is the worst possible thing you can say to someone that you don't want to freak out. He shifted, which is what I learned to call it, into something. Something that was much different than anything I had ever seen. His nails grew out, and his teeth got sharper, longer. He grew sideburns that resembled Wolverine's. That part kind of made me smile. I don't know if I was too shocked to freak out or what it was, but from that day forward I knew that Derek was something to be protected. He told me all about his family, and how he was born that way. It took me months to cope with it all, but I was in it for the long run. I didn't have any plans on walking away from him, but my world shattered when he walked away from me. It has been four months since I've seen him. Four months since there was even a sign of him. Until tonight. Even though I was sure that he would never hurt those kids, including my sister, I was sure that it was something like him that attacked them tonight. A werewolf.

I pulled into my driveway and noticed that my parents were not home. As much as I loved my dad, and I did, he seemed to be deprived of the parenting gene. And our mother, well she, she just was a crazy person. I walked in and found Lydia in the kitchen humming.

"Hey big sis. I made your favorite tea. Now sit down." She gestured to the table and I did as I was told. Lydia might be the younger sister, but she can be scary. "What took you so long?"

"Oh...I was a..fixing your friends car. Stiles. And I was talking to the sheriff." I looked over at her and smiled. "He really has quite the crush on you."

She handed me my cup of tea and looked confused. "The sheriff? Well, that's just not right."

I shook my head at her. "No. Stiles. He said that if you need to talk about what happened to tonight, you can call him." I took a sip of my tea and smiled at her.

"Well, _that, _won't be happening." She poured her a cup of tea and came joined me.

"You can talk to me." As much as I cared about her and if she was okay. I really wanted to know what happened. What she saw.

"Or you can tell me what you are doing home, without your hottie of a boyfriend." She pursed her lips. Of course she would ask about that. The nice atmosphere that surrounded us just seconds before had disappeared.

I placed my cup down and started tracing the rim of my cup with my finger. "He left me a few months ago."

I looked up at her and she had her eyes a little wide and her mouth shut. A sight rarely seen on Lydia. "What did you just say?" She sounded surprised.

"He took off. Right before the semester started. Said he had some family business to attend to. I haven't heard from him since." I didn't really want to talk about it, and I knew that if I avoided her questions she would just pry more. So, my only option was to answer them with short responses and hope that she would stray away from the topic.

"But from the way you spoke about him...and your stories...and...and..I just can't believe he would up and leave you! What an asshat!" Lydia was my sister, all fiery and headstrong. And I had a feeling that she was about to prove it. "If he ever shows his face around here then I swear I'll..." Her phone started ringing, and I saw the name Allison flash across the screen. She looked up at me, not wanted to ask if she could answer it, but I knew that she wanted to. I nodded for her to answer it.

_"Yes?"_ Her voice was sweet and then her facial features pulled together in a serious way. _"What channel?"_ She stood up quickly and turned the television on. It was the sheriff, giving a press release for what had happened tonight.

I followed her into the living room.

_"What has happened tonight is nothing short of horrible act. Five children were trapped the school, being terrorized by who we believe to be the killer of the bus driver. Those kids, that we are choosing to be left anonymous, were capable of barricading themselves inside the school's chemistry classroom. There were very brave and extremely lucky. We have a lead suspect that we are trying to find at this current time. Derek Hale. If any of you see or hear from this man, you need to inform the police department immediately. We don't believe him to be armed, but he is dangerous." _

I felt the tea cup slip from my grasp just a moment before I heard it crash. I was staring at the picture of the guy on the T.V.. Derek Hale. My Derek Hale. I was pretty sure my heart had stopped, but I couldn't tell because right now it was beating so fast that I thought it might jump out of my chest.

"Jules? Are you okay?" Lydia had came over to me and was touching my shoulder. "Allison, I'm going to have to call you back." She looked back over at me, and put her hands on either side of my face. "Julie!" Lydia never freaked out, so my face must been really upsetting because she was freaking out right now.

She sat me down and went to clean up the tea cup shards and the left over tea on the floor. "That's Derek." She looked up at me, confused. She probably didn't hear me.

"What was that honey?" She came over to me and knelt down before me.

"That's Derek Lyds. The Derek. My Derek." That's all that I was capable of getting out.

"Holy Hell." I looked back up at the T.v. screen and couldn't take my eyes off of it. He would never hurt anyone. Let alone children. He loved kids, and we've even talked about how he wanted kids someday. I just didn't understand.

* * *

**Okay, so, that's the first chapter. Please, please, please, let me know what you think? It would be beyond gratefully appreciated. If it was a little bit confusing then I apologize, you can review and ask question or PM me and I'll answer all questions. Much love to you all, and thanks the AlphaGamJen for your ideas!**


	2. Chapter 2

**_Flashback- Four years ago, a few weeks into the Introductory Electronics class_**

"He really isn't that bad!" Derek had been making fun of a guy in class. Austin was his name and he was one of the front row, nerdiest of all nerds, teacher's pet kind of guys. "I think he's sweet." I was trying to defend him, but there was only so much that I could defend without lying.

Derek scrunched his nose and pushed up invisible glasses. "So...uh...this test on Fourier Analysis and Pulses, I hear it's pretty tough. We are forming a study group...and if you want to join...well, you...you're more than welcome to. I mean...I'd like to have you there." He mimicked Austin's voice so perfectly that it was scary. I was laughing so loudly everyone in the library turned to look at me. I stifled my laughter and cleared my throat.

"At least I have semi-decent guys interested." I leaned forward and raised an eyebrow at him.

He tapped his pen on the notebook before looking up at me. "Are you trying to insinuate that I am interested in in-decent girls?" He put on a mock hurt expression but a grin quickly formed after it.

"I'm merely making an observation that girls of...low standards for themselves seem to be around you." He laughed at that, but he was much quieter than we I laughed.

"I like to have a good time is all." He said as he went back to typing on his laptop. "You'll know when I'm sincerely interested in a girl." He let the topic with that sentence. I sat there and waited for further explanation, but clearly I was going to have to request it.

"How?" He lifted his eyes and said,"Hmm?" I matched his stare and possibly narrowed mine slightly. "How will I know when you are interested?" Why did I even care?

"Because I will be blinded by the girl to see anything else." It was a total cryptic answer, and his light and easy voice had dissipated. There was an edge now to his words, and it was as if they were soaked in heartache. He had definitely been speaking from experience, however, I didn't have the heart to ask him about it.

"Well, we have been studying for hours. I was thinking of getting a beer and ordering a pizza. Want to join?" He looked up at me and shook his head.

"You, are unlike any girl I have ever met." He looked up at me and just stared for a good minute. I didn't know what to say, but his staring didn't make me feel uncomfortable so I didn't make him stop. "Yeah, I'm in."

A group of girls walked by, and I saw Derek's eyes follow them. Without even looking over at me, he held up his hand and said, "Just give me a minute." He stood up and walked over to the giggling girls. I watched in a silent awe as he worked his charm on yet another very willing victim. I'd be lying if I said he wasn't attractive. And he had the perfect 'bad boy' persona going on, with his boots, leather jacket, and a smile that always made the girls swoon.

One of the girls, a brunette this time, was bending over a table to write something down. No doubt it was a phone number, but she was accomplishing more than simply writing down a number. She was showing Derek her very large and very visible...er...assets. He walked back with confidence and a victorious grin.

"So is that Friday night or Saturday?" I used a joking tone of voice, but I was actually being quite serious.

"Neither.." He looked up at me, and the look told me that I was obviously missing something. "You promised me you would help me with those physics equations this weekend. You aren't planning on back out are you?" He seemed a little nervous that I actually would.

I was surprised that he cared so much about me keeping my promise, especially when it was clear that he could have every girl in that group over there in hour intervals. "Of course not." He smiled again and picked up my books to take back to the shelves. "I can do that too you know. I just choose to have more class." I don't what possessed me to inform him that I could act like those girls, but it came from a weird part in my body that I wasn't in tune with.

"You can do what?" He reached up high and was putting a book away when he spoke.

"Show my boobs and actually _get _the guy's number instead of giving my number. Kind of defeats the purpose to show off boobage and give away a number. The doesn't have to do anything in the situation." He had turned to stare at me, and he was obviously amused.

"Did you just say 'boobage'?" After all of what I said, that was what he picked up on? Typical.

I pushed off of the bookshelf that I had been leaning on and plastered a flirtatious smile on. I reached down and unzipped my jacket. Pulled the cups of my bra up, making my boobs a little more perky. I pulled my tank top down a little more, and fluffed my hair out a little bit more.

"You're really going to do this?" I smiled at him, giving him my affirmation. "Just to prove a point?" When I winked he laughed.

I turned around, searching for a suitor. We had the obvious guys that would drool over any walking female. Then we had the stuck up guys, who obviously had a checklist. That checklist being: tight clothing, big boobs, and a brain that resembled a hot air balloon. Then I saw a guy that was perfect. Athletic, so he cared about his health somewhat. But he didn't have on the typical frat guy clothing, nor did he give off that vibe. Nice hair, nice facial features. Overall he seemed like a decent guy.

I walked over and stopped at the chair across from him. "This seat taken?" He looked up from his computer and took out one of his ear plugs.

"Not at all." I sat down and pulled out a notebook and began highlighting some notes. "I'm sorry, but do I know you?" I looked up at the guy was really looking at me. Trying to figure out if he knew me, which I was pretty sure he didn't.

"Unless you spend all of your hours in this library or the engineering building then probably not." He laughed softly, but smiled. I gestured to his iPod. "What are you listening to?"

"Fall Out Boy, and before you judge...they are actually quite good." I smiled a genuinely big smile.

"No, no, I love them. Their lyrics are pretty crazy, and their music videos are even crazier. But their sound is real." He grinned, and was giving a strange look that I wasn't given very often. "I'm sorry, I tend to ramble when I get a little nervous." I wasn't actually nervous, but I did tend to ramble. So, it wasn't a full lie.

"Well, you're too pretty of a girl to ever be nervous around a guy." This time I laughed softly. I didn't take compliments too well. "Can I see your phone?" I glanced back over to where Derek was watching us from the book shelves and winked. I turned back and gave my phone to him. He typed in his number and I saw that his name was Kyle.

"Well, Kyle. This has been a very nice break from studying." I stood up and smiled at him. "I'll call you."

"Can I get a name before you go?" Oh! How dumb of me.

"It's Julie." He smiled even bigger.

"Well, Julie. This has been nice, maybe..." He was about to ask me out. He seemed like a nice enough guy, maybe I would give him a call.

"Let's not get too carried away there romeo." Derek was by my side, and taking my backpack from my hands to carry. "She's busy this weekend." I pushed Derek towards the hallway.

I turned back and mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' to my new friend. "What the hell was that about? I was doing well, he was about to ask me out."

I glanced over at him, and he had his mouth in a thin line. "Yeah, I know." That's all he said as we walked out of the library and down to my apartment.

* * *

_**Present Day- Two nights after the attack on the kids at the school**_

It had been two nights since my baby sister had been supposedly attacked by my ex-boyfriend. Boyfriend? I honestly had no idea what we were, or if we were anything at all. When Derek had left, he said that he had to deal with family stuff. I assumed it had to do with Laura, since the rest of his family, with the exception of his uncle were dead. I had never seen Derek cry before, that was until the night he was telling me all about his family and their curse. He came from a long line of werewolves. He never mentioned what town he was from, he said that it was to protect me. The less I knew the better, but he didn't leave out the important things.

I had been sitting on my bed for hours, staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything that Derek had told me about his...his condition. For two nights, I kept myself home. I was beyond positive, that whatever it was that attacked the kids at the school it wasn't Derek. Derek had been born as a werewolf, and he had such control while he was...shifted. There was no way that he would hurt anyone, let alone kids. And something was off about that Allison girl, I didn't trust her and I wasn't so sure I like that Lydia was such great friends with her.

I finally decided that I couldn't just sit here anymore. I got up from my laying position on my bed and pulled out the chest that I had under my bed. Derek had me engineer some weapons that would help protect myself from his kind. I always kept it locked. Partly because I was afraid of anyone finding it and me having to explain what it all was. And then again, I kept it locked because it was a part of a secret that was mine to keep but not mine to tell. It took a lot for Derek to tell me about his past. Most people would have broken up with him immediately and applied for a restraining order. But after a year of dating, I wasn't ready to give him up over something that he couldn't control. Given, this world that he lived in wasn't one that I easily accepted, but I was willing to work on that.

I went over to the top drawer of my dresser and pulled out the keys for the locks on the chest. On the key chain, was a picture of me and Derek. I sat there staring at it, and hoping deep down that after tonight, I would be able to prove that he was innocent. Then after I proved that he couldn't have attacked those kids, I was going to kill him for leaving me, and never coming back. On top of the chest was the spiraled symbol, the same symbol that Derek had tattooed on his back. I remembered when I first saw that tattoo on him. I was madly turned on; not that I was attracted to just tattoos, but I was attracted to men who had tattoos between their shoulder blades. Add that to Derek's rippling muscles and perfect facial features, I was surprised it had taken me so long to realize how attracted to him I was.

I opened the case and looked at all the little gadgets I had made. I haven't touched any of these in months, actually I think it had been longer than months. And I wasn't so sure that they worked perfectly, because I had refused to test them out on Derek. He was always so afraid that one full moon he would lose control and hurt me. He had given me this box and said that it belonged to his mother. Which is why I have treasured it up until this day, and would probably always treasure it, even though he clearly didn't wish to be in my life again.

I brought out the belt that I had made to hold the weapons and laid it out on my bed. Grabbed a few wolfs-bane bullets, and my .9 millimeter. The bullets weren't hard to make, and it wasn't even my idea. Derek stole it from the hunters. I also had a few knives that I kept laced with wolfs-bane which were an obvious weapon against...well, anyone or in this case any_thing. _Then I got to my babies. Derek said that he only knew of wolfs-bane as a substance to hurt them. But when I was in New Orleans for a conference, I went to several old practicers and asked about lycans and protection from them. They had told me of something called mountain ash. I didn't tell Derek, because he wasn't around me to tell him. It was only two months ago that I had found it out.

I took the mountain ash and created grenade like bombs with them. The old lady said that it wouldn't harm them, but it would paralyze their abilities. Keep them from hurting me. I wasn't so sure how it would hold against this wolf, or any wolf, but that is what the old lady said. I placed the mountain ash bombs in the belt. Then I reached in and grabbed the small hook gun, which was laced with wolfs-bane, just like the knives. I had more weapons and gadgets in the box, but I could only carry so much in the belt.

I headed down the stairs and thought that I had crept by Lydia's room without her noticing. Ever since I had told her about Derek being my Derek, she has been constantly checking on me. It was sweet, but right now I didn't need it.

"Are you going out?" Lydia stood at the top of the stairs and was now looking down at me.

"Yeah." I turned to her and I tried to put on a smile, but apparently I failed at that too.

"Where could you possibly be going? It's eleven o'clock at night." She was clearly skeptical, and it was near impossible to lie to her.

"I just need to get out for a bit Lyds. Change of scenery you know?" She pursed her lips as I waited. I didn't technically lie. I did need a change of scenery, it just happened that scenery was woods with a possibly werewolf hanging out.

"At eleven o'clock at night?" She had her head cocked, lips still pursed, and her eyes narrowed as she stared at me.

"Yes, _mom. _Now I'll see you in the morning alright?" She jogged down the stairs and beat me to the door.

"What's in the bag Jules?" The belt. I hated that she was so protective, but I was the same way. I definitely would be acting like this if the roles were reversed. "Are you going to see him?" I wish. I wanted nothing more but to just talk to him, but I didn't even know where to start. Well, I did. With the werewolf that attacked my sister.

"No." I looked her in the eyes as I spoke, knowing that she would believe then. Especially since this time I wasn't lying.

"I'm just worried about you." She dropped her head along with her voice.

I brought her into a tight hug and kissed her cheek. "And I appreciate that. But I really just want to get out of this house." I gave her an apologetic smile and walked out of the front door.

When I was in my car, I took a minute to relax. I rested my forehead against the steering wheel and took a few deep breaths. I had never actually used any of these weapons before, as a matter of fact, I've never actually hunted a werewolf before. But I knew the tracks they left, and the way they moved. I should have after dating one for three years, or at least almost three years.

I started the car and headed towards the woods.

* * *

I had been walking around for what seemed like over an hour, and nothing was happening. I heard nothing but faint sounds of smaller animals. I found what looked like a small car made road. It wasn't paved and it wasn't graveled. It was just dirt, and I decided to follow it. It had been walking for only about ten minutes when I came upon an old house. Like a really old house. So old, that it was literally falling apart.

I walked up to the front steps and that's when I noticed that it was not only falling to pieces, but it looked as if it had been burnt. I jumped up on the porch and went inside. The place looked like the playground of a serial killer. The stairs were long and I could imagine at one time they were magnificent. Actually I was sure that this entire house was magnificent at one point in time. Filled many kids and daunting parents. I noticed something etched into the wall, but when I went over to see what it was my heart stopped. I'm not kidding you, it stopped beating for a second. What was etched into the wood was something that I had never imagined to see, and yet it makes perfect sense for it be there. It had belonged there. I ran my hand over the spiral. I had done research after I had first seen it. It was formally known as a triskelion. From what I had learned, it meant different things to different people. Mainly because it was found in several different cultures. I had asked Derek once where the tattoo came from, but all he would give me was that it was a 'family-thing'. This was his house, or at least was his house. I was going to snoop around a bit more.

That was until a sharp scream of agony rang through the trees. It took me about forty seconds to pin point where the sound was coming from. But once I did, I ran like hell was on my heels towards it. I had nearly tripped three times, but I was running so fast that it felt like I was literally floating on air.

I came out and into a small clearing where there was a barrel with a fire still going. At first I thought that there were large logs sticking out of the barrel but then I realized the 'logs' were actually legs. I was much to paralyzed with shock to scream or shout. I saw that there were a pair of footprints deep into the ground. Someone had been running away, and fast. Then right near the barrel I saw the prints of a wolf. A werewolf to be more exact. I followed them out of the clearing and into the woods again. I know that I should have called the cops, but I didn't want Derek knowing that I was in town before I had the chance to talk to him myself.

I had followed the tracks until I was out of the woods and on the road. Which was extremely unfortunate because now I had nothing left to follow. I had no choice but to give up my search for tonight and head back home. Where I would probably stay up all night thinking about Derek's old house.

* * *

I woke up to Lydia freaking out in her room. She was squealing about how none of the colors were going with her complexion for today. I kind of zombie walked into her room. "Lyds. If you squeal any louder the pigs are going to get jealous." She huffed out air at me and went to make a grand gesture at her closet.

"I need to go shopping. No. Actually, now that you are home, we are going shopping. I have no clothes." I ignored her comment about shopping, and walked over to her closet.

"Lydia. There are still clothes in here that have the tags on them." She ignored my words and walked down the hall and into my room. "Lyds!" I shuffled after her and found her going through my closet. She pulled out a dark green lace dress.

"I'm borrowing this." She walked back out of my room, but paused before she went back into hers. "Oh, and you're driving me to school." She disappeared into her room and I was left to actually having to get dressed, as in not my sweatpants.

When I came back out of my room, my phone buzzed with a text.

**Got the parts for the jeep. Can you fix it today? While I'm in school? -S**

I smiled down at my phone. I got the feeling that he didn't have the right parts that I need, but that wouldn't be that big of a deal. I could just go and exchange them at Advanced Auto or something.

**I'm actually dropping Lydia off, so I'll just take your jeep and drop off my car in it's place.**

Another text came in and this time Lydia raised an eyebrow at me. She had emerged from her room, looking nothing less than perfect.

**I have lacrosse practice after school. Drop it back off then?**

**Not a problem!**

"Who could you possibly be texting at 6:30 in the morning?" She had went into the bathroom to do her makeup, or touch up her makeup I guess since it seemed that she was always wearing it.

"You're buddy Stiles. I'm fixing his jeep for him. So I'll be leaving my car at the school." She was applying another coat of lip gloss when she looked over at me.

"I can't believe my big sister is a grease monkey." She shook her head and went back to touching up her make-up.

"And I can't believe my sister would rather be a barbie than embrace her intelligence." I said gently before I went back into my room to grab my stuff and change my clothes into working clothes.

* * *

After I had changed and gathered my stuff together, I walked down the stairs and saw Lydia waiting impatiently at the front door. We got into my car in a timely manner and I might have sped on my way to the school. Lyds was exceptionally quiet. She didn't say a single word the whole way to the school. I knew better than to address why she was obviously nervous. She hadn't spoken a word about what happened in the school. Yeah, she had mentioned that it wasn't fair that Scott had left them in the room. I think she even used the words, 'Left us to die'. I thought that was a bit of an exaggeration, but I wasn't about to question her about that either.

**I'm at the school. In the Mclaren.**

"I don't want to be the barbie." Lydia had spoken up from my passenger seat. I looked over at her, I wasn't so sure I had heard her clearly. "I don't like hiding the fact that I am smarter than over half these kids in this school. If they knew then I would be cast out as nerd. Like that Stiles kid. I can't get into any school worth going to if I'm not on top. You of all people, I had expected to understand that." I had hurt her feelings earlier. She opened my door and angrily got out.

I hurried out of my side, and went over to her. I stood in front of her and refrained from giving her a hug, because I knew she wouldn't want me to in front of everyone. "I do get it. And I can promise you, that one day, you won't have to hide who you really are. Or at least one day, you won't want to." I winked at her as she gave me a grateful smile.

"It's good to have you back Jules." She said before she went around me and up the stairs.

"You would drive a fancy sports car. And yet, you are offering to fix my junk yard of transportation." I turned around to see an awed Stiles gawking at my car.

"Eh. Rich parents, Engineer grad student, first born, golden child, I guess I'm entitled to a few toys. If you like this, then you should see my bike. I'm having to have it shipped back here though." He looked over at me with his mouth hanging way open. "Keys?"

"Huh?" He asked me, still in a daze at my car.

"Keys. I need your keys, so I can fix your jeep." Realization for why he was actually here. He started digging in his pants for his keys and when he finally found them, they fell to the ground.

"Dude. What are you doing? I need to talk to you!" Scott came up behind him, slapping his hand on his shoulder. I think he scared the piss out of him, because he had the keys in his hand and dropped them yet again.

I reached down and picked up the keys. "Got them. I'll drop it off to you at your practice this afternoon."

Stiles put his hands together like in prayer and bowed to me. "Thank you. You are like a lady Tony Stark right now. My hero." Scott had to drag him away.

I was just about to get into my car when Jackson caught glimpse of me. "Velma!" I started laughing at the ridiculous nickname but turned around. He gave me a hug and then, just like Stiles, started admiring my car.

"Got to love having rich parents right?" I rolled my eyes at him. Jackson was many things, and humble was not one of them. Yes, I enjoyed having parents that are wealthy and can provide for me. But I worked hard to get where I was today. "You should come watch the lacrosse practice tonight. It's going to be this fake scrimmage thing. You can see how much my moves have really improved." He was like a puppy just wanting to be told he did good. I knew Jackson's past, and I understood what it meant to always feel the need to prove yourself.

"Of course I'll be there." I smiled at him and went to find Stiles' jeep.

When I found it, I couldn't help but smile. Yes, it was a little crappy, but I had a thing for projects and this jeep was most certainly that.

* * *

It had been a long day. I didn't want to rush to get Stiles' jeep done, but once I had started on it I realized how much work was actually need on it...

I had pulled up at the field and saw a pacing Stiles on the sidelines. He looked real worried about something. I stepped out of his jeep and stood there dangling his keys.

"Coach made me first string. First string! But now that means that I am actually going to on the field. This is my first practice as a first string player. Can you believe it? I should probably...just...stop...Are you laughing at me?" I was, but I couldn't help it.

"Yes. But you are like the energizer bunny come to life. You just keep going!" He started scratching the back of his neck, a clear sign of being nervous. Poor guy. I went and stood right in front of him.

"Okay. So, you're going to stop talking and just listen. Just because you aren't the big huge typical athlete, doesn't mean that you can't play as well as the other guys. The small guys usually end up pulling off the most bad ass plays anyways. So now you are going to get out there, and prove to the coach that he was an idiot for not promoting you sooner." I turned him around and sent him off to the field.

I turned around and started looking for Lydia. I had texted her and asked that she bring my car here. I couldn't find her anywhere, but Scott had zipped past me like lightening. Where the hell did the guy come from? I looked in the direction from where he came and saw Lydia coming from the same direction. Odds are that wasn't a coincidence. Then a bunch of commotion erupted on the field. I jogged over to see what had happened and looked up just in time to see my sister fixing her lip gloss, a pissed expression on Jackson's face, and a heartbroken expression on Stiles face. I couldn't tell if it was from the fact that Lydia had made out with a guy, or if it was the fact that the guy she made out with was his best friend.

Coach had called an early practice, and all the boys went inside to change. Lydia saw me and walked over.

"It's creepy when old people hang around high schools you know." She was joking, but I wasn't in the mood for it.

"Why'd you do it?" And I never was one to beat around the bush either.

"Do what?" Her eyes bugged out a little, and she played dumb.

"Kiss that Scott kid." I rarely played the mom card with her, and technically I didn't have the right. But considering we didn't really have a suitable mom, I was all she had.

"I didn't.."

"You have always sucked at lying Lyds. And Jackson could see it too. That was wrong."

She got into my car and I walked around to get in the driver's seat. "What? Jackson not giving you a ride home?" That was a blow at her, but honestly if I didn't occasionally put her in her place, no one would.

"Just give it a rest Julie! Yes, I made out with Scott. It's not that big of a deal." She threw her hands up.

"He is your best friend's recent ex-boyfriend and you have a current boyfriend. Need I say more?"

"At least I have a boyfriend, and not some wanted serial killer." It was a quick rebuttal and it honestly stung a little.

We pulled into the driveway a few minutes later after several minutes of pure silence. Before she got out of the car, she turned to face me. "I'm so sorry Jules." She fiddled with her hands for a few moments before speaking again. "How are you doing with...it all?"

"Fine." She still didn't get out of the car. "Look Lyds, I'm going to take the car for another spin. Clear my head a little." She finally took the hint and she left the car. I know she felt bad about what she said, but I had somewhere I needed to be.

* * *

I pulled up at the old burned down house about half an hour later. I went back inside and just stood there, rubbing my fingers over the etching in the wood. It was like I could feel him in the house. Strange, most definitely, but that's how I felt. I also felt some tears start to run down my cheeks, and I want to scream out. I hated crying. Hated it. The more I wiped at them the faster they fell.

I heard footsteps from outside and when I turned around I froze. Seriously, I was paralyzed I couldn't move.

"How did you find me?" Derek's voice rang over and over again in my ears as I just sat there, helplessly staring at him.

* * *

**That's it guys! Thank you SO much for all the reviews and feedback. It means the world guys :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Flash Back- Right after end of first semester finals_**

I stood there, looking into the mirror at someone that I barely even recognized as me. My hair was all done in perfect curls, not anything like my usual curls. Those were more messy, natural. This, this entire person was different. I was never one to wear much make-up, just never saw the use in it. Then when Lydia got older, every time she was around me, she would always do my make-up for me. I started wearing more, just real natural colors. Tonight though, I channeled my sister's ways with beauty. I even had her go shopping with me for a dress while Derek was out with his sister. I must have tried on twenty dresses, and if it was up to me I wouldn't have tried on but maybe three. Tonight was making me nervous though. Apparently every year the grad students host a huge ball for the engineering school. This time it was around Christmas, but it was a black and white attire party. Lydia helped me find a gorgeous white dress with black lace coming up from my navel and covering my chest. The dress was shorter and came to right above my knees, but it had pockets so I was happy with it.

Derek had offered to come as my date. I was asked by a handful of guys, most two immature for my taste. But I decided to go with Derek because I was afraid I was really going to need his support tonight. I was up for an award and internship. If I got it, it would be a huge advance in my career plan.

"You look...well, I'd say gorgeous but that would be an understatement. Let's go with..." Derek was standing in my doorway, tapping his finger on his chin. "Ravishing." He smiled at me, and it put some ease in my heart.

I turned back to the mirror and tried to pull my dress up some. "I feel like my boobs are falling out of this dress." When I turned back to him, I caught him staring. "And I just can never get into these ball/dance things."

"I figured your little prep school would have had many school dances." He came over and started to tie his bow tie, but I could see he was clearly having trouble.

When I first told Derek about me spending my life in a prep boarding school, he had assumed I was an only child and a troublesome one at that. Most kids that go to boarding schools either acted up badly, or they had parents that couldn't be bothered with them going to a regular school. I, on the other hand, saw it as a perfect opportunity to set up all the right connections I would need. Plus it was a top school with the best teachers and best testing scores. I had begged my parents to let me go, and of course they said yes. It was one less child to worry about.

"They did. But I didn't really go to them." I walked over and grabbed the bow tie out of his hand. "Let me do this."

"Couldn't get a date?" He raised an eyebrow and I swatted at his arm, causing him to laugh.

"I guess I could have. I just never really worried about all that stuff you know. That has always been Lydia's department. Even when she was young, she had all the guys wanting to come and play in her tree house. I always had more important thing to do." I finished the bow tie and turned him around to see it.

"Studying. You're always studying. The only time I see you have fun is when you are working on your little projects. That is a sure sign that you should probably get out more." I knew he was right, but I couldn't focus on fun while I was here.

"What are you talking about? I'm out with you all the time. We're even going out tonight." I smirked and then turned around to get my jacket from the closet. "Speaking of which, are you ready? Because I really don't want to be late."

"The award. I know." He held the door open for me and we left to go to the ball.

* * *

When we arrived, the place was packed and it seemed as if everyone stared at us as we walked in. Everyone was taking their seats for the award ceremony and speeches. Derek led me to a table with a few of our friends. When the speeches began, I had the program in my hands. By the third speech, the program was in tiny little pieces all over my lap. Derek must have noticed too because he reached over and grabbed my hand.

He lean in and whispered, "Relax...you'll get that award and internship." I squeezed his hand and held on tight. I tried to hide the shiver that ran through my body from his breath on my neck when he whispered in my ear. We had been dancing around that line of be friends and being more than friends for about a month now. And neither one of us had pushed the other over that line, but now things were just getting too blurry.

They called my name up for the award and internship. I was giving my speech while looking at Derek the whole time. He was smiling at me, and that's when I realized that I couldn't just let him go. I knew that he had been burned by a girl a while ago, and she broke his heart. No wonder he was always dating around, he is protecting himself. I had finished my speech and they opened the dance floor in the other room. I walked down to Derek and took his hand to lead him to the dance floor.

"Come and dance with me." He smiled and took the lead.

"Would never turn down that offer." He winked at me. He pulled me in for a slow dance and kissed my cheek. "Congratulations."

"Well, thank you." I smiled up at him. "Can I ask you something?" After tonight, or more so after this conversation I would either pull him in closer or push him away. I was hoping it was the former.

"If it's to accompany you to another one of these things. The answer is no. I hate getting dressed up, this was a one time thing." I couldn't tell if he was joking or serious. I assumed it was a bit of both. "You okay?"

"I'm good. I just was wondering something." I looked up at him. "Why don't you ever go on a second date with girls?" I could see the shock in his eyes, but he had a hard line pressed with his lips.

He quickly replaced the line with a grin. "I like variety, keeping things changed up all the time."

"I'm being serious Derek." I wasn't willing to deal with his bullshit, I needed a straight answer.

He nodded his head once, and looked directly into my eyes. "I don't trust girls." There was that ghost of heartbreak again. I've seen it several times, but as quickly as it appeared it disappeared the same.

"Do you think you can ever trust them again?" A small smile formed on his lips.

"I trust two." I looked up and was confused. "My sister, Laura, and you." I was even more surprised when he said me. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Because I needed to know that there was hope that you could care for someone again." This time he looked confused and I didn't give him a chance to ask another question.

I leaned up on my toes to press my lips against his, I felt his surprise when his lips were a little stiff. But only seconds later did his lips begin to curve around mine. It wasn't a very long kiss, but I knew that it was the best kiss of my life.

"I get that someone broke you. And from the look that appears in your eyes when you think about it, it was pretty ugly. You mean a lot to me Derek Hale, and if you let me, I want to help prove that not all girls are like that." I knew that there was a chance he might pull away, but my bet was on the fact that he felt the same way about me that I did about him.

* * *

**_Present Day- In the old burned down Hale house_**

"How'd you find me?" I looked at him like he was a complete imbecile.

"How did I find you? You leave without saying when you will be back. I come home after graduation, and find that my sister has just been attacked by you. Or at least that is what the cops are saying. And here you are, standing in front of me, and all you can say is 'How did you find me?'" I tried to mimic his deeper voice, but I'm sure I failed.

"Home? Your sister?" He hadn't moved, but I had his full attention.

"Yes, home. And Lydia Martin. She's my baby sister, and a _werewolf _attacked her!" I couldn't handle the fact that he seemed so calm right now.

"I can promise you that it wasn't me Jules." He went to step towards me but stopped a few feet away.

"I know it wasn't you. And you've got two minutes to tell me what is going before I walk out of here and call the cops." I would never do that and he probably knew that but I didn't care.

He stepped forward those last few steps and was now standing right in front of me, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "You haven't changed at all. Same dark red curls, beautiful smile, and fiery passion of hate for those who betray you."

"So you are admitting that you betrayed me?" He wouldn't do that even on his best day.

"No. I'm admitting that I made the worst decision of my life when I left you. Have you been crying?" There must have been lines down my cheeks from where the tears ran down. His reached out and brushed his thumb over my cheek. When I pulled back I saw the hurt in his eyes, but he deserved that. He deserved at least that.

"I'm not going to ask again. What the hell is going on Derek?" I needed to know. I needed to hear him say that he wasn't the one that attacked Lydia and the rest of those kids.

"I came back because Laura died. Whoever killed her became the new alpha. And that's who attacked your sister." He walked over and sat on the dissipating stairs.

"Do you know who the alpha is?" I asked the question, but I could tell that he didn't know even before he shook his head no. "I'm terribly sorry about your sister." I was wanting to cry, I was wanting to hold him, and I was wanting to kiss him. However, I did none of those things.

"I have no idea who it is. But my plan is to find him and kill him." I started to walk to the front door but decided to turn around and face him just one more time before I left.

"I want you to stay away from Lydia." He looked up at me and shock was still on his face. Probably from the fact that Lydia was my sister. "As a matter of fact stay away from all of those kids. That includes Jackson as well." He raised an eyebrow at the mention of Jackson's name.

"What about you? Am I to stay away from you too?" I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say yes so badly, but I had to get out of there.

"I don't know yet." And so, I decided to be completely honest.

"I didn't ever want to hurt you!" He called after me.

"I know." I said before I got in the car and drove off.

I didn't even make it a minute without the tears filling up my eyes. That was not the reunion I was wanting or thought I would get. I honestly didn't know what I expecting. I wanted to punch him for leaving me heartbroken and I wanted to know why he never called.

I was about ten minutes down the road when Derek came out of nowhere and cut me off in his car. I had to think fast to keep from losing control of the wheel. The car drifted about fifteen more fifteen before it came to a screeching halt. I got out of the car and went over to knock Derek back down on his butt.

"Are you insane? You nearly made me wreck!" My palms slapped hard on his chest as he stumbled backwards a few steps. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"That I couldn't let you drive off down the road. That I couldn't just stand there like an idiot and watch you walk away." He held out his hands and grabbed my wrists to stop me from hitting him.

"You should have had those thoughts when you left me four months ago." I yanked my wrists out of his grasp. "You should have called me!" My voice was a little crackly and I hated that.

"I wanted to. You've got to believe that I wanted to." I didn't know what to say, so I just stood there and stared at him. "I've never missed someone so badly as I have missed you these past few months Jules. And I would never have imagined you would show up in Beacon Hills."

"If you had stayed around, like we planned, then you would have." Before I was too in shock to say what I really had on my mind and heart, but now I was seeing through a lens of anger.

"I'm so sorry... I had to come back. And I've stayed because...because..." He needed to catch his sister's killer.

"I know why you stayed. I understand that part. I don't understand why you kept it all from me, and why you didn't come back for me. I know you want to catch this alpha. I can help you." Something changed in his eyes, and I knew that this conversation was about to change.

"I don't want you anywhere near this thing Jules. I'm not strong enough to face it on my own, and if I'm not strong enough then I can't risk you being involved."

"Well, as long as Lydia is involved then I am involved. This thing came after her, which means I am going to find it. With or with out your help."

"No." I felt my eyes widen and my mouth drop. "You heard me. No. I can't let you do that Julie. This thing is dangerous. I have a plan, and that doesn't include you getting yourself killed."

"You can't tell me 'no' about anything. And last time I checked, I had an entire case of wolf weapons that _you _made me create. What is your plan anyway? Go in, claws and teeth bared and just hope you win?" He dropped his head, and I knew I was right. Derek has never been one to think things through. But when he looked back up, he refused to look me in the eye. He was hiding something else. "What aren't you telling me?" He looked back down and kept his mouth shut. "You're unbelievable. You nearly run me off the road, tell me that I need to mind my own business, and when I ask you to tell me the truth, you decided to keep it from me."

"Julie..." I held up my hand and started walking back to my car.

"I don't know what happened to the sweet Derek that never lied to me. But I want him back." I got into my car and shut the door. Derek jogged over and was now standing outside of my window.

"Wait. We need to talk Jules!" I spun the wheels and sped off down the road. I wasn't exactly heartbroken anymore, I was more pissed. And that could be scary.

* * *

I set out to go after the alpha. I had went home and packed up more weapons. I was driving down the road that led to a clearing in the woods. If he was out, odds were he was going to be in the woods. I figured Derek would have came after me, try and stop me. So I wasn't surprised when I saw his car speeding down the road, but what did surprise me was the fact that there was another car literally chasing after him. I slammed on my breaks and pulled out my phone to call Derek's. It kept ringing, so it was turned on, but there was no answer. I turned my car around to go and follow whatever the hell he had gotten himself into.

That's when I saw the blue lights ahead of me on the road. I pulled off the road and pulled out my police scanner.

"Suspect heading on foot, right down..." I heard the road name and knew he was by the school. I decided to hang back and listen to see what was going on. I couldn't risk the police knowing I knew Derek personally.

I jumped when my phone vibrated in the cup holder.

**Where are you? I hope you aren't out looking for Derek. ****-L**

Lydia had been the one to text me. And with reading her text, I figured it was time to return home. I knew Derek was right when he said it was too dangerous to go alpha hunting, but I also felt the need to prove a point to him. Prove that I could do it without him. Plus I had a big day ahead of me tomorrow. I had found a small house on the outskirts of town, a little secluded so I couldn't be that bothered, with a rather large basement for all my grant work. The Realtor told me that I could start moving my stuff in tomorrow. And honestly the sooner I was out of my parent's house the better. And I had a check-up with my doctor first thing in the morning.

When I reached the top of the stairs, I saw Lydia sitting on her bed studying. Probably Latin, which was something she insisted on knowing because I learned three different types of Latin, classical, ecclesiastical, medieval. Anything I have learned, Lydia felt the need to learn as well and apply it in more ways. It was a personal problem she developed in middle school.

"Hey sis. Bye sis. Going to bed sis. Night sis." I wasn't in the mood to talk or argue with her, so I just walked right pass her room and went into mine.

* * *

I woke up super early that morning for my doctor's appointment. I needed to get all things physical cleared before I could start my grant work, prove that I was perfectly healthy and I could be around all the equipment I would be working with.

I pulled up to the doctor office and noticed that Jackson's car was in the parking lot. I pulled up next to his car, and walked inside. I gave the nurse my information and sat in the waiting room. I was hoping that Jackson would walk out before I went back so I could make sure he was alright. That kid was fit as a fiddle, and I'm sure that he already had his physical done because tonight was there first game.

"Ms. Martin." I looked up at the nurse, a shorter and petite blonde. "If you want to follow me on back, we'll put you in a room to see the doctor." She smiled at me as I walked past her and into the hallway.

I looked up as she began leading me to a room and saw Jackson coming out. He looked healthy, no broken limbs or anything. Maybe he was just here for a check up as well. That's when I noticed him holding the back of his neck. He looked up and saw me, eyes widened a little bit, but then that familiar grin broke out across his lips.

"I get the feeling that you're stalking me Velma." I let out a fake laugh, but then I saw concern enter his eyes. "You're not sick or anything are you?"

I shook my head no and said, "Nah..just getting passed to work all my equipment. I found a small house so I can get my stuff set up and going in the next few days." I pointed to his neck where he was stick holding his hand. "Everything alright with you?" He looked down at the ground and stumbled on his words. He never stumbled on his words, unless he was lying.

"Yeah. Everything is great. Just needed a shot update." He started to walk away but turned back around. "You're coming to the game tonight right? It's a pretty big game, and I'd love to see you cheering me on in the stands. Holding a poster maybe that says 'Jackson Jackson he's my man. He wins when no one else can.'" He winked at me.

"How about 'Golden Boy, still an ass.'" He laughed, but I was being serious. Don't get me wrong, I loved the kid, but he was still a jerk. "I'll be there." I smiled at him reassuringly.

"I'll be looking for my sign." He pointed at me before he turned on his heels and walked away. As he walked down the hallway, I saw them. Scratches, no, scabbed over deep cuts on the back of his neck. They looked like...claw marks. And for Derek's sake, he had better hope that they weren't caused by him.

* * *

The doctor cleared me to be fit for duty. I drove back to my house and started to immediately pack up my stuff. My phone started to vibrate on my dresser and when I saw who it was on the screen, anger infiltrated my body once again.

"Did you hurt Jackson?" I blurted out the words before he even had a chance to speak.

"Are you home?" He sounded like he was running.

"You didn't answer my question Derek."

"Julie!"

"Yes. I'm home." I didn't understand what it mattered if I was home or not. Just when I was going to ask him about it, he came through my window. Literally, he rolled through my window. "What the hell...are you doing?" He stood up and looked at me. He didn't even need to be out in the open with the cops after him.

"I need you to stay home tonight." He had to be kidding me.

I looked at him like he was an idiot. Telling me what to do never worked well for him in the past, so why does he think it would right now. "No."

He nearly growled when he sighed. "Now is not the time to be stubborn Jules."

"And now is not the time to try and tell me what to do. You're still hiding something from me, and until you decided to be honest. I'm going after this thing myself." I pulled out the case and showed him my weapons. "As you can see, I'm completely prepared."

"The alpha is relentless. Do you understand that? He will rip apart anything that gets in his way." And yet he was still not giving up any information about what he is hiding.

"I can take care of myself." I looked down and closed the case. "I had a pretty good teacher." I thought back to the days that Derek taught me how to fight and smiled. As much as I wanted to just forget everything and close the few feet and wrap my arms around him, I just couldn't.

He walked over a few feet and closed the rest of the distance between us. When he looked back up at me, his eyes were so filled with worry and love. "Can you at least promise me one thing." I continued to look at him. "Call me, if you get into any trouble. I won't be far away from you." I nodded my head and just like that he was walking out of my door.

"Where are you going?" I called after him.

"I've some things to get taken care of. I'll find you." Find me? What was that supposed to mean?

I heard the doors slam open and voices. I ran down the stairs, thinking Derek had let someone in. "I thought you had left..." I reached the bottom of the stairs, and saw Lydia. Crying her eyes out. "Lyds? What's wrong?" I rushed over, making sure she wasn't physically hurt.

"That...asshat...broke up with me. Well, if he thinks that he is moving on to greater things and I'm less than those, he is sadly mistaken. He'll regret breaking up with me." Greater things? What does that mean? I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Jackson had broken up with her. I wrapped my arms around her and just let her cry into my shoulder.

"You're right about one thing. He is an asshat, along with others." Like Derek. I pulled her in tighter before I held her at arms length. "But we are still going to that game. You have to go and show him that this hasn't broken you, and I have to go and support a new friend." Stiles was starting tonight, his first game as a starter. I wanted to be there to support him. "Now why don't you go upstairs and raid my wardrobe." She nodded her head once before going up the stairs.

A small knock on the door came startled me. "Will you get that? I think it's Allison!" Lydia called down to me.

I walked over and opened the door to sure enough find Lydia standing in my doorway, in work out clothes. "Hey. Is she okay?"

"She will be. She's got tough skin." I motioned for her to come in.

"Yeah, I know." She said with a half laugh. "Mind if I just go up to talk to her?" She asked nicely, but there was something about her that I just didn't trust.

"Sure. She's upstairs in my room." I motioned for her to go up the stairs.

A few minutes later, after fixing me something to drink and grabbing an apple I headed up the stairs to join Lydia and her friend. See what outfit she had decided to steal from me now. When I turned to go into my room, I was greeted with the sight of Allison drawing back my bow.

"In most households it is considered rude to snoop through the belongings of the people that live there." She turned her head to face me, but she slowly released the string back to it's original place of rest.

"I'm sorry, it was just such a wonderful bow. Do you hunt?" Not tonight.

"No. It was a gift from a friend. He was the one that taught me how to shoot actually." Derek didn't want to take any chances of me getting hurt. He taught me every way he knew how to protect me.

"Well, it's a beautiful bow. He must have been some friend." She raised an eyebrow at me.

"What about you? Do you hunt?" I watched her reactions when she shook her head no. It didn't seem like a lie. "Forgive me, but Lydia failed to mention your last name. Is your family from Beacon Hills?" I couldn't place my finger on what it was about her, but I just didn't trust her.

"Oh, no. We moved here a few months ago. My aunt grew up here though. Kate Argent. Maybe you know her?" I knew of her. She was the snake that broke Derek's heart. It took me two years to get him to trust me enough to talk about her. She did quite a number on him. And if she was Allison's aunt...then that would make Allison a hunter as well. No wonder I didn't trust her, she'd kill the man I loved in a heartbeat with no hesitation.

"Never heard of her." I smiled at her. "Will you be going to the game?"

"Of course. It's a big deal for the school. I'm going with my dad and Aunt Kate. You can meet her there."

"I would love to."

* * *

If there were a family of hunters here, then that meant that they knew about the alpha. And if that knew about the alpha, then that means the alpha must be trying to grow his pack. My mind wondered back to the deep cuts I saw on Jackson's neck. I didn't want to believe he was the beta, but it would make sense. He fit the profile for the erratic behavior, and he was already fit and healthy. The perfect candidate. I was sitting on the bleachers and trying to steal some glances at Allison and her family. More specifically her aunt. I pulled out the whistle I had made a year ago. Derek said that I should make something that would help me single out the werewolves. So I made a high frequency emitter, much like a dog whistle. It blew at such a high frequency that only the werewolves would be affected.

I brought it to the game, because I was sure that what Derek had been keeping from me was that there was another werewolf. A beta. That's why the alpha attacked Lydia and her group of friends. The beta was one of them, and the only one that fit the ideal person for the job was Jackson. Just to make sure I was right thought, I brought the emitter. I planned on blowing it when the game was going, so when the player dropped to the ground, it wouldn't bring much attention.

"Julie, here's my aunt I was telling you so much about, Kate." I brought my attention to the very physically fit, curly haired, brunette in front of me.

"Allison here tells me you have quite the arsenal in your home." Although her tone was friendly, there was a venom edge to it.

"I like to build stuff. It's kind of my thing." I smiled at her.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, and I hope you enjoy the game." I watched her walk off and it took everything I had with it me to not put a knife in her back.

The refs blew the starting whistles and the game began. I took my chance and blew my whistle. But my hold body felt paralyzed when it wasn't Jackson who fell, but Scott. I turned around to find Stiles. If Scott was a werewolf, then a sure thing would be that Stiles knew about it. I couldn't find Stiles anywhere, and something Derek once told me rang through my ears.

_When an alpha finds a beta, they will do anything to get that beta to be fully committed to them and the pack. Even if that means killing anyone in it's life that could stand in the way of the pack._

I pulled out my phone and dialed Derek's number. "Please tell me you are with Stiles."

"How did you know..."

"Are you with him or not?" If Derek was with Stiles, then I knew he was safe.

"Yeah I'm with him. I guess you figured it out then." He sounded impressed, but worried at the same time.

"Scott's a beta. But who's the alpha?"

"I don't know. That's what we are trying to figure out. I didn't want to drag you into this any further Jules. I didn't want to lie to you, but I knew that you wouldn't leave it alone if I told you the truth." Now he just sounded sad.

"Oh and I know about the Argents and that your crazy ass ex is in town. Had the pleasure of meeting her actually. She's gorgeous." I knew he would be able to hear the jealousy in my voice, but I didn't care.

He voice started to come through and then the phone went dead. "Derek? Derek?" I took off to get into my car and find them. Derek wouldn't have just hung up on me, not without saying something first. Which meant something was wrong, terribly wrong.

I rushed off down the road and frantically started searching for his car. It took me about ten minutes to find his car, outside of the hospital. I let my breaks come to a screeching halt. I reached for the bag in the back where I had stashed some of my weapons. I pulled out the gloves that I created to send electromagnetic waves through a body, along with blades at the tips that extract and are laced with wolfsbane. Then I grabbed my blade and a mountain ash grenade. I ran inside just in time to see Derek facing off with some guy. Then I saw Stiles sitting on the ground.

"Oh my goodness. Are you okay?" I called out to him, but he turned to me and was completely shocked.

Derek turned around and saw me and threw his hands up. "You've got to be kidding me. How did you find us?"

"Don't be rude, nephew. Introduce me to your ravishingly beautiful girlfriend here." The guy at other end of the hall had burns down one side of his face and was smirking.

"Nephew? And I'm not his girlfriend. Not anymore." I looked over at Derek and expected some answers.

"Julie, let me introduce you to my uncle, Peter. He's the alpha." Derek radiated heartbreak, and that's when it clicked. If Peter was the alpha, that means he killed Derek's sister.

"You are a disgrace of a man. And we will kill you." Peter laughed out so loudly that it rang through the hallways. I gripped the point of the knife in my fingertips and through it at him. It was a direct hit in the arm.

"Oh sweetheart...did Derek not teach you anything? You can't kill an alpha with something so small as a knife." He pulled it out and dropped it.

"No, but I can wound you. That dagger was laced with wolfs-bane." I could see the strength start to drain, but I knew it wouldn't be no where near enough.

I ran at him and stabbed the make-shift claws form my glove into his ribs and let the electricity flow through. Peter dropped to his knees and I went to get Stiles.

"You know Derek?" I helped him stand up, and I heard Derek go after Peter. "You date Derek?" Then I heard Derek and Peter begin to fight. I knew that I needed to get Stiles out. I knew that Derek was strong enough to go up against Peter. "You know about the werewolves?"

"Yes Stiles. I know about everything. But right now, we need to get you out of here." He was in shock, but I got him to safety. I turned around to go inside when Derek came out of the doors.

* * *

**Here you go guys! I really hope you like it. :) Please take the time to review and let me know what you think. And of course if you have specific questions,,, then please feel free to PM me! Much Love to you all!**


	4. Chapter 4

**_Flashback~ Derek and Julie's First date_**

"Well, all I have to say is it's about time Derek manned up and asked you out." I was searching my closet for something to wear on my first date with Derek tonight. I turned around to face my friend Holly, who was sitting on the bed finishing a paper that probably wasn't due until next week.

"Actually...I was the one to initiate things." I saw her shaking her head and smiling at the same time. "What? It's not the 1950's Holly. A girl can make the first move."

"I'm just surprised Derek let you make the first move. He strikes me as the 'take-charge' type of guy." She had a good point, and she was pretty much correct.

I pulled out a cute haltered dark green dress and turned back around to face Holly. "He is that type of guy. But it's different when it comes to girls." I knew why she was raising an eyebrow. Derek had dated nearly every girl in our class that didn't look like ugly Betty. "I mean girls that he really likes. You see the way he is around me. I knew that he wanted to ask me out, probably before he did. But he never made a move towards doing it. It was almost as if he was scared. And not of me saying no, but of me hurting him." That probably sounded like I was crazy, but I swear I wasn't. "Derek gets this look in his eyes whenever I ask about his girlfriends from high school. It's almost like he is remembering a ghost." I shook my head and held up the dress to me and turned towards the mirror. "I don't know. I can't really explain it."

Holly stood up from the bed, and smiled over my shoulder into the mirror. "The dress is perfect." She turned me around and gave me an empathetic smile. "And I get what you are saying. Guys like Derek pull away away from relationships usually because they got burned. So my guess is that you are right on target with your theory. Some girl probably broke his heart. That's why he only goes on first dates, and that's it." She walked over to my closet and pulled out black heels and handed them to me. "And your right about what you said earlier too. I do see the way Derek acts around you. It's like he's an artist and your his muse." I pulled the dress on and walked over to where she was standing by my dresser. I had asked Kate to come over because she was a magician when it came to hair, and I really wanted to look amazing tonight.

"That is a horrible analogy Holly." I sat down and started to apply make-up while she wrapped a strand of my hair around a curling iron.

"When we were Bailey's party, and that guy kept trying to dance with you, Derek showed up out of no where and just looked at him and the guy walked away. Never returned to be in your presence again." Derek was always defending me against guys. "And everyday between classes you two have lunch. I've seen him turn girls down because it would interfere with your all's lunch plans." That made me smile. "In Econ a week ago, a few guys were asking him about you and if he had 'gotten that' yet. I thought he was going to rip their heads off. He just sat there, veins nearly popping out of his neck his was so angry." Derek did have a tendency to get too angry sometimes. And I am not going to lie, sometimes he makes me nervous.

"Really?" I saw her nodding her head out of the corner of my eye. "He's always been a little over protective though." I reasoned with her, or at least I tried to.

"Yes, really. And sweetheart, there's a reason why he has always been that way. I'd say that poor guy has been in love with you the minute you turned him down." I let my mind wander back to the first day that I met Derek. He had told me that he was everyone's type when I turned him down, and I guess he proved himself right.

About thirty minutes later, I was all dressed and ready to go. "You look gorgeous."

"More like ravishing." Both of our heads turned to see Derek in the door way. He leaned against the door frame easily and smirking up at us both. He nodded over at my friend. "It's nice to see you again Holly." She smiled and walked over to sit back down on the bed with her laptop.

"You two kids have fun now." She waived as we walked out of the door.

I turned to Derek and cocked an eyebrow. "Ravishing? Is that going to be your usual compliment?" He had used the same word last weekend when he came to pick me up for the ball.

"It's the only word that felt suitable." He shrugged his shoulders and opened up the door that led outside and held it for me. We approached his car and he held the car door open as well.

Once he was in the car, I put on my seat belt and turned to face him. "Now I understand how you get so many girls to fall for you. You're attractive, got a nice car, killer smile, charm, and you're a gentleman." He looked over at me, clearly confused.

"I'm not a gentleman." I pointed back behind us and then to the car door.

"I hate to break it to you babe, but when you hold doors open for girls, then that classifies you as a gentleman." A small smile came across his lips before he turned to me.

"I don't hold doors open for girls. Just you and Laura." He must have seen the confused look wash over my face. "Laura is my sister." He hasn't really mentioned his sister, actually he hasn't really ever mentioned his family. He pulled the car downtown and parked on the street.

"Am I allowed to know where we are going now?" He held my door open and this time I inwardly smiled. I felt a sense of pride that I was one of the only girls he holds doors open for.

"No." He grabbed my hand and led me into a rather large building. From the outside it looked abandoned, but the second my feet stepped inside, it was a transformation like none other. There were so many really odd sculptures and paintings. And the the lights were all different colors. Everyone was gathered in the center of the room and a woman at the front of the building stood up on a small stage with a microphone. Derek put his hand down on the small of my back and let me to where everyone else was standing. I was thankful to Holly for making me put on heels, if I wasn't wearing them then I probably wouldn't be able to see.

"Welcome everyone! To the Children's Home of the Disadvantaged. We've prepared quite a bit of exhibits for you to look at, and bid on. Please remember that all the proceeds go to the children. And to tell you about all the hard work that was put into the art, let's bring out the artists themselves!" She stepped aside and gestured for the children to come up on the stage. Each one of them couldn't have been more that twelve years old, and each were dressed in what I assumed were their best clothes. They took a bow, and then all walked to their pieces of art that they created.

"I know how much you care about children and figured this was right up your alley." I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck and held on tightly. I don't recall ever telling him about my volunteer work with children and passion for orphanages.

"Thank you." He leaned in and kissed my cheek. "Let's go and look at the artwork." He offered me his arm and I took his cheerfully.

We walked over to the first child and it was a small boy. Maybe around eight years old, and when he saw Derek his eyes lit up. "Derek! You made it!" He knew these kids?

"Of course I did buddy. I promised, didn't I?" The small boy nodded and hugged Derek. When the boy pulled back his eyes drifted to me. "Jake, this is Julie."

Jake smiled up at me and stuck out his hand."Your the girl that's a friend, but not a girlfriend." He turned back to Derek and smiled. "She is really pretty, I say you should date her." I couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped my lips as I looked back up at Derek.

"Jake here is my little brother from the Big Brother program." Derek picked him up and threw him up on his shoulder to sit.

"Yeah, Derek let me drive his car!" I watched Derek as he interacted with the boy and couldn't hide my smile. I knew that Derek was big on family, so I figured he liked kids. But this proves how much he did. "He's the best big brother I've had." Derek let him down, and the boy walked over to his painting. "Come on Julie, look at my painting." He grabbed my hand and led me over to his painting. There was a huge house, and a really large family outside. Some sitting on the roof and porch, and the others playing around in a front yard. When I looked closer I saw that the people didn't really look like people at all.

"Are these...dogs?" I looked back over at the kid and watched his smile widen.

"Yeah! Werewolves actually. Derek tells me this story of a family that are werewolves. He says that all of that stuff really exists. Which is why I am supposed to be good, because they only attack the bad people." I looked up at Derek, but I saw that he was staring at the painting. It was a little weird to tell a kid a story about werewolves, but then again when I was a small girl I believed in fairies. So I didn't judge.

"Well, I love it." I smiled over at Jake. He flipped the painting over and showed me the dedication plate.

_I painted this for my Big Brother Derek and his family that died._

I temporarily lost my breath, and I when I looked up at Derek I saw that he had walked off. Jake leaned in and whispered in my ear. "He told me that he hasn't told anybody about his family dying. So please keep it a secret."

I pulled back and poked out my pinky finger. "I promise." He wrapped his pinky finger around mine and seal the deal. "Now I have to find my date." I winked at him.

"So you two are together!" He did a victory air fist pump and it made me laugh slightly.

"You better not be trying to steal my girl Jake." Derek reappeared, and nearly scared us both. Derek lent me his hand to help me stand back up.

"Family doesn't do those things." Jake smiled up at Derek. "Go look at the rest of the art, but don't forget to bid on mine."

Derek led me down to the next child's artwork. "So I'm your girl huh?"

"You've been my girl for a while now Jules, it just took me a while to realize it." I didn't know what to really say to that, so I just let him show me around the place and all the children.

* * *

About two hours later I found myself in my room staring at Jake's painting. Derek had bid on it, but I placed a silent bid and beat him. I couldn't get the though out of my head about what Jake said about Derek's family. I didn't say anything to Derek. I just figured he would tell me when he felt comfortable.

* * *

**_Present Day- Right after the Alpha attacked Derek in the hospital and Julie is pulling Stiles out of the hospital._**

I was half carrying and propping Stiles up as we ran out of the hospital. Once we reached the EXIT door and was on the other side in the outside Stiles freaked out.

"This whole time, you _knew! _You knew all about the werewolf thing! Are you one too?!" He started walking over to me and that's when he saw the gloves I was wearing. "And what the hell are those things?"

"Yes, I knew. And no, I am not one. I'm human just like you are. These are...an invention." I smiled and then I opened the door for him to get in, but he didn't move his feet. "Fine. Don't get in the car, but you better stay out here. . come into that hospital, do you understand?"

"There's no way I am letting you go back in there by yourself." I turned back around to face him. "I don't care if you are some kind of badass werewolf hunter...oh no. You can't be a hunter. You're not a hunter are you?"

"Stiles! I will answer all your questions. I promise. But right now I have to go back in there and make sure that Derek is okay." I knew he wasn't strong enough to face the alpha, and now that we knew the alpha was his own family there was no way he would have the mental strength to fight him now. Stiles nodded his head and I began running back into the hospital.

I ran down the halls until I came where the nurse's body laid on the floor. "Derek!" I ran into the room and saw some splattered spots of blood but no Derek. Or Peter. There wasn't a sign of either of them there. I ran out of the room and down the hallway, hoping to find something that they were still here. I was halfway down my third hall and still nothing.

"Julie!" I heard someone screaming my name, and I was hoping it was Derek. "Julie!" I rounded the corner and saw Stiles running towards me.

"I told you to stay by the car. Do you have a death wish?" This kid was insane, coming in here with an alpha and a beta with no form of protection.

"Quite possibly. I haven't put much thought into it." I threw my hands up impatiently. "I think I know where they are headed." He showed me a screen full of missed texts from Scott. "Peter wants Scott in his pack."

I turned Stiles around and started leading him back down the hallways. "Let's go." We exited the hospital and got into my car in a record time.

"He's at the high school. You're going to have to drive fast." I started up the engine put the car in drive and stepped on the gas.

"That won't be a problem." Stiles was unusually quiet. Given, I have only known the kid for a little over a week, but within that time he rarely ever shut up. "Go ahead and ask you questions." I pulled out my phone and dialed Derek's number. Maybe he had gotten the upper hand and was holding the alpha somewhere.

"Sooo...you and Derek...dated." It wasn't a question, but I knew he wanted validation.

"Yes. For almost three years." I redialed Derek's number. There was still no answer. "Damn it."

"Did he tell you about all the werewolf stuff and his family?" I nodded my head yes as I listened to the sound of Derek not picking his phone up. "What else do you know about?" That was a loaded question.

"That the Argents are hunters. And my guess is that Allison doesn't know about that yet though." Then I thought of something. "Lydia has no knowledge of this world. And it better stay that way." I stared at Stiles as I drove down the road waiting for him to confirm that he would keep his mouth shut.

"Okay,, Paul Walker. Put your eyes back on the road please. Lydia doesn't even know I exist. So, there's no problem there." His voice dropped to both a sad and annoyed tone. "You dated Derek." He said shaking his head.

"I don't know how that is so hard to believe but yes. I dated him."

"What happened? One day did you wake up and find him with his claws out ready to kill you?" He sounded a little too eager for my liking. I turned into the school parking lot and skidding into a parking spot.

"He left me. Without saying when he would be back. No phone calls, or anything. I come back home and find him here." We both got out of the car and I got out a few more weapons.

"So is that why you have all these weapons. To hunt him down?" I looked at him like he was a dolphin in a shark tank. "Just wondering."

"No. I have these weapons because he never wanted me to be in a situation where I couldn't protect myself. Derek's not a bad guy." We started walking up the stairs.

"But he broke your heart..." Stiles pointed out, and he was surprisingly intuitive.

"That he did." I pushed open the door to the boy's locker room.

"That's the ...yeah. Okay." I heard Stiles following behind me. The locker room was cleared out, but I heard the shower running.

When we both rounded the lockers we saw Scott kneeling on the ground, breathless.

"We've got a BIG problem." Stiles stepped forward and said.

"I know." Scott looked up and his eyes widened a little when he saw me.

Stiles filled him in on everything that had happened and was said in the car. Then Scott told us what happened when Derek and Peter had confronted him.

"Wait, Derek was with Peter?" Scott looked up at me and nodded. "Willingly?"

"Yes!" Scott shook his head. "I was like nothing bad had every happened between them. When Peter showed me that...vision...I..I didn't know what to think. But I still don't trust the guy."

"Well, let's get you home. And we should probably keep an eye on Jackson. The Argents think that he is the second beta, not you." Scott and Stiles both groaned.

"That's just wonderful. I don't know how I am going to protect him, Allison, my mom, Stiles, and now you." Stiles started laughing.

"Dude. She can protect herself. I think that the werewolf hunters shouldn't be afraid of the werewolves but more so her." I smiled at that compliment and then I took both the boys home.

* * *

I woke up and checked my phone. Still now response from Derek and I was afraid that things have gotten worse. I dialed his number again and this time left a message.

**Derek, please call me back. I'm really worried. I know we aren't getting along right now, but I still care. Call me.**

I had jogged down the stairs and went for an apple when I heard a knock on the door. I expected it to be Stiles, but I was hoping it would be Derek.

When I opened the door I was left in a state of confusion to see Jackson standing my my front porch. "You must have balls the size of tires to come here after you broke up with Lydia." And I wasn't talking about me hurting him, I feared for him because Lydia was liable to do anything.

"I can handle Lydia. I really need to talk to you though. You want to take a ride with me?" He held up his keys. "I might even let you drive..." I didn't want to tell the kid no because I knew that he didn't really have anyone. He respected his adoptive parents, but he has always told Lydia that he never felt comfortable talking to them about things. I glanced up the stairs, hearing the shower still running. Lydia wouldn't know where I went, and I knew that if she saw me leaving with Jackson should would be hurt. But I couldn't turn the kid down.

"Sure. Let me just grab my jacket." I grabbed my leather jacket and pulled it on over my bare shoulders. I hadn't expected to leave the house, so I just had on a tank top. I locked the door behind me and we both got into the car.

"What is it you needed to talk about Jackson?" We had been riding for about fifteen minutes and he hadn't spoken yet. I figured maybe if I prompted him, it would give him the start to begin talking.

"Have you ever been nervous and ready for something at the same time?" He kept his eyes on the road, something for which I was grateful because he was going around 75 mph down this old road.

"I guess. I mean that's how I feel before I make any big decisions. I feel nervous because change is always nerve racking, but I feel ready because I know I can handle it." He gave me a small smile.

"Exactly. Change is a good thing. At least in this case it is." He was being very cryptic, and I couldn't quite figure out what he was talking about. Really talking about.

"Is that why you broke my sister's heart. Because change is good." He dropped his head momentarily. He had to have known that I was going to ask about that. Lydia cried on my shoulder for hours about that.

"I broke up with Lydia because it was time to." He voice got a little more serious now.

"I call shenanigans Jackson. You broke up with Lydia because you are scared of something. This...change that is coming. Whatever it is, you don't want her to be a part of it. Is it dangerous?" He sped up and drifted. Before the drift was finished though he car stalled and shut off. He tried to crank it back up, but it was like all the battery was drained.

"What the hell?" He got out of the car and so did I.

"I'll take a look at it." I went to the back of his Porsche to look at the engine, but a vehicle pulled up before I made it all the way back there. Allison's dad rolled down his window.

"Car trouble?" He started to walk towards us, and I knew immediately that this was his doing. He thought that Jackson was the second beta and now he was trying to prove it. But I wasn't going to let that happen.

"I actually know quite a good bit about cars. I can just take a look at it." I walked over to back and Jackson lifted up his hood for me.

"She just graduated from Stanford's Engineering school." Jackson bragged on me like I was his sister, which I guess when you really thought about it, I was. "I think she can handle it. But thanks." I saw some sort of device attached to the engine and that was all the proof I needed. Argent was behind this, and I now I knew that I needed to keep even a closer eye on Jackson.

I couldn't let Argent know that I found his device so I put on my best sorority girl act that I used to do in college. I stood up and out from under the hood. "Maybe I don't know so much about cars." I added in a fake little giggle. "Mind taking a look?"

He pulled out a pair of gloves and put them on his hands. He looked up at Jackson. "It's Jackson right?" Jackson nodded and then Argent looked at me. "I'm sorry, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you I don't think." He stuck out his hand for me to shake. "Chris Argent."

"I'm Julie Martin. My sister, Lydia, is a close friend of Allison's." Realization of who I was struck him and he smiled brightly.

"Lydia's a rather bright girl." He motioned for Jackson to come over to him. "Come here and I'll show you what to look for." When Jackson lowered his head to look at the engine I saw Chris staring at the scratches on his neck. "I'm sorry but these look almost like...claw marks. Did you hurt yourself?"

Jackson stood up and took a step away from him. "It's just...a...scratch." That was clearly a lie, and I was sure Argent knew that. "I think I'm just going to call a tow truck." Jackson pulled out his phone.

"Probably the best idea. I mean.. I would call Lydia to get in my car and come get us but someone broke her heart." Jackson looked at me and then lowered his head again.

All three of us turned when we heard a vehicle approaching. It was Stiles and Scott. Stiles was in the driver's seat and skidded to a stop in front of Jackson's car.

"What's up?" Stiles yelled out over Scott. He smiled at me, and I was thankful that they listened to me when I said that we needed to keep a close eye on Jackson.

"Is everything alright?" Scott looked at Jackson and then to me. I gave a slight turn of my head to make sure he knew the answer was no.

"Hey Scott. I found your friends here and they were having car trouble. We were just taking a look." Stiles nodded his head, and Scott didn't miss a beat.

"Well there's a shop right back there down the street I'm sure that they have a tow truck, we could give you a ride." Scott opened the door for us to get in the backseat of the jeep.

Jackson started heading to the jeep, but I glanced back at Argent and saw him take that device out of the engine. He walked over and started the engine no problems. "I told you I knew a little bit about cars." He said before he walked back and got in his vehicle and left.

We all watched as he pulled away. With me still standing by Jackson's car he walked up to the Scott and whispered harshly. "Are you following me now?"

"Yes. You stupid, freaking, idiot. You almost gave away everything right there. I could hear your heart beating from a mile away!" Scott yelled right back at him.

"What are you talking about?" Jackson was clearly confused. I stepped up now, since he forgot I was still standing there.

"He thinks your the second beta. He thinks you're Scott." Scott turned around and punched the Stiles' jeep.

"Hey!..that's...my jeep.." Stiles voice trailed off and Jackson was looking at me. "Oh! Long story short Jules knows everything about everything when it comes to this werewolf stuff." Jackson's mouth was hanging wide open.

"You mean to tell me that those 'scratches' were you trying to get turned into a werewolf? Are you out of your freaking mind Jackson. Being that is not all flowers and rainbows. It's a serious curse!" I couldn't believe that he actually wanted to become one.

"How the hell do you know about it? Are you one too?" Jackson stepped up to me.

"No she dated one. The one actually. So, if I were you, I wouldn't really mess with her. Derek might kill you." Stiles warned Jackson and then Jackson just kind of blew up.

"Does Lydia know that you were dating a werewolf freak?" He challenged me and I wasn't going to have that.

"No. She doesn't, and if she ever finds out, I'll kill you." I didn't want Lydia having anything to do with this world. Nothing to do with it.

"Argent thinks that you are me, and that now something is wrong. Which means I have to keep an eye on you too so you don't get killed!" Scott went to go swing at Stiles' jeep again but Stiles grabbed him and stopped him.

"You guys want to tell me that this is a curse." He shook his head. "McCall you can run faster and hit harder than humanly possible."

"Yeah I can run faster. A lot faster. It's usually because something is chasing after me trying to kill me!" Scott was pretty worked up.

"No. You just can't handle this. Give me what I want and I promise you I can take care of myself." Jackson wasn't thinking clearly. I walked up to him and tried to calm him down some.

"Jack.."

"Don't you touch me. You're going to get me the bite McCall!" He said before he stormed off, got in his car, and sped away.

He left Scott, Stiles, and me standing alone in the parking lot. I turned sideways to face Stiles. "Can you give me a ride back home?" Stiles and Scott smiled at me and they took me home.

* * *

I had been packing up the rest of my stuff all day, waiting for Derek to call me back. I decided to pick up the phone and try calling him again.

**Derek...I don't know what it going on. But you need to call me back. Please...**

I was practically begging towards the end of the message. I just wanted to know if he was okay. There had to be a reason why he was working with his uncle. And I wanted to know that reason. I even tried to call Jackson, but ended up having to leave a message for him to.

**Come on Jackson. You've never been able to stay mad at me. I can help you. Call me back.**

I was going to try with all my might to keep Jackson safe and uninfected with the bite. The bad thing is that the Argents were going to make it there job to ensure that Jackson doesn't harm or infect anyone himself. Especially Kate. She was a cold hearted killer, and yet she justifies her actions with saying she is killing monsters. Derek and Scott were the furthest thing from a monster.

I decided to head over to Stiles house, but I didn't knock on the door. I'm the sheriff would find it a bit odd for a 23 year old to be visiting his 16 year old son. Instead I climbed up and went through his window. I heard voices downstairs and then I heard Derek's name. It was Stiles and his dad. They were talking about the murders and if I was hearing correctly the sheriff's words were slurred.

I sat there at the top of the stairs and listened to their entire conversation. Was that creepy? Most definitely, but if I could get any information on Derek. Then I was going to get it. Plus I really needed to talk to Stiles.

"_I miss talking to you. I miss talking your mom." _I heard the sheriff say and his voice was filled with such sadness that it made my heart hurt.

That's when I heard the phone ring. I saw Stiles round the corner and I jumped up and went back to his room. I went and sat in his desk chair and he came in and screamed.

"Oh. My. God! Are you kidding me?" He put his phone back up to his ear. "I'm on it Scott." He hung up the phone and looked at me. "You know what? I see it now. The whole you and Derek thing. He just randomly lurks in the dark too." I wanted to ask about what his dad said about missing him mom, but I knew that this wasn't the time.

"Is everything okay with Scott?" It didn't sound like it when he was on the phone.

"Oh! Not at all, we have to go!" He grabbed his keys and grabbed my hand to lead me down the stairs. We passed his dad, who was passed out at a table full of files and papers.

"Is he okay?" He grabbed my hand again and pulled out of the door.

"Peter is taking Scott's mom out on a date. . ." I understood then what the extremity of the situation was. We both ran to get into his jeep and he started to the engine and we left out on the road.

"How are we going to stop the date?" I looked over and saw Stiles smiled.

"We're going to wreck it."

"How?" I knew we were going to wreck but I wanted to know the plan. "Where's Scott?"

Stiles handed me his phone. "He's going to send a street name. Let me know what it is." Two seconds later the text came in and Stiles headed towards that road.

My phone started to vibrate and I saw Derek's name on the screen. I pushed the green button to answer but Derek's voice isn't the one that I hear. I hear music, loud music. Then the second I look up we rear-end a car. "Stiles!" He got out and so did a woman from the passenger side of the car.

"Oh Stiles!" She had to have been Scott's mom.

"I am so sorry...I just didn't see you there!" Stiles had amazing acting skills. Really.

"We were on the side of the street!" I looked down at the phone and realized the call was still going. I put it back to my ear and I hear Jackson saying that he'll go with Derek.

I jump out of the car, thankful that I had my boots on. "Where are you going?!" I heard Stiles call after me but I was too focused and running too fast to stop and explain. I just had to get to Jackson, no matter what I had to get to Jackson. Derek had to have been taking him to back to his house. It's dark and creepy. Perfect place to kill somebody.

I reached the woods and ran until I knew I where I was. I finally reached the back of the house and I went to see Scott already wolfed out facing a wolfed out Derek.

"Stop!" They both turned to look at me and when I reached them I realized Jackson was on the stairs. "Oh my...Jackson are you okay?" It looked like he had been crying. I went over to stand between Derek and Scott. The moment I stepped between them bullets were fired through the windows and through the door. Derek wrapped his arms around me and held my behind a wall. I turned to make sure Jackson and Scott were okay, but I didn't see Jackson and Scott was still standing.

He stumbled back when I saw one, two, three bullets hit him. "Scott!" I tried to break free from Derek, but his hold was too tight.

"You can't go out there! You'll die!" Derek yelled in my ear.

"Scott's dying right now. We have to help him!" I heard Derek groan, or it might have been a growl I couldn't tell. But he stood up and helped Scott out through the back.

He came back and picked me up and took me out the same way. I grabbed his hand and tried to run, but he stopped. "What are you doing? We've got to get out of here!"

"You guys need time to get away. Take Scott. You have to get those bullets out before he can start to heal." Derek pushed me towards Scott. "I promise you that I will be okay. I promise. Now go!" He pushed me towards Scott again. "Please go.."

"They'll capture you." Even though I wasn't close to forgiving Derek yet. This wasn't something that I wanted to to happen to him in a million years.

"Then you'll just have to come and rescue me." He left the back door and I saw Scott sitting up against a tree. I rushed over to help hoist him up and we began running through the woods. I heard gun shots go off like crazy, and that's when I felt tears run down my cheeks.

"Here. Let me help you." I held Scott up and we stopped in our tracks.

"Who are you?" I wasn't just going to hand Scott over to some stranger.

"No. He's fine. I know him." Those were Scott's last words before he passed out.

"The names Deaton. I'm a vet." He lifted Scott up in his arms and started carrying him as I followed.

"A vet for what exactly?" The fact that Scott was shot with silver bullets didn't even phase him, so he had to have had knowledge about werewolves.

"Mostly cats and dogs." We reached his vehicle and he placed Scott down in his back seat.

"Mostly?"

"Among other things." He drove us to a clinic where he cleaned Scott up. My mind, the whole time, was on Derek. I couldn't imagine what they must be doing to him. I knew that they wouldn't kill him. Not yet anyways. They need him to get to the alpha. Which means I had about 48 hours to find him and rescue him.

* * *

**So hey guys! AlphaGamJen and I have been thinking about some pretty neat stuff for this story. We've been bouncing around ideas like crazy. If it wasn't for her this story would have never taken place. So let's show her some love! P.S. those of you that liked that "dog whistle" idea...yeah that was all her. Brilliant! Right? I hope you guys liked this chapter. And for all of you guys that have favorite/followed thank you! The support means the world. Speaking of support, how about those reviews huh? Those are pretty darn amazing too! So keep showing the love guys :)**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything Teen Wolf**

***Also if you guys want to know what Julie looks like. I have just recently been introduced to Polyvore. The link is in my profile, so just go there and click it. I've made I think two sets for this story. But I will definitely be posting more! So keep an eye out :)**


	5. Chapter 5

_**Flashback~ Julie and Derek after one year of dating**_

I was sitting on the bed behind Derek, massaging between his shoulders. He said that he pulled a muscle at the gym, but he hasn't showed any signs of pain since it happened. Which leads me to believe that he just wanted a massage.

"Have I ever told you that you are amazing at this?" He dropped his head, causing his neck to go slack. I leaned down and kissed the center of the spiral between his shoulder blades. I've never that attracted to tattoos; but on a guy like Derek, I found them sexy as hell.

"What's the meaning behind your tattoo again?" I leaned my head over he shoulder and planted a kiss on the hollow of his collar bone.

He laughed softly, and I saw him grin. "I've told you the meaning twenty times, Jules." I sat back on my legs as he turned to face me on the bed.

"I know. But it fascinates me." I scooted forward a few inches and started kissing his neck. "Amuse me." He lunged forward and fake tackled me on the bed. We were both laying on our backs for maybe twenty seconds before he pulled me towards him to snuggle close to his chest.

He grabbed my hand and started outlining the spiral on my palm with his finger. "It's actually called a triskelion. Three spirals, symbolizes three different things to different groups of people. To some it may be family oriented: mother, father, child. Or it could represent the three stages of life: past, present, future. In the Celtic origins it is known to represent the three different realms: sky, earth, water. And in some of the tribes of the ancient time periods, it represented the phases of the moon: new, half,..." His voice caught when he said the last word. "Full." No matter how many times he told about this tattoo, I always felt like a child. He was able to have me hanging on every word that left his lips. "My dad used to tell me that 'while we may rise, we can also fall'. That's why I got the tattoo, to always remind of that." Every time he told me this story, he always ended up sounding sad. But I never asked about why he was sad, until today.

"Where is your father? You have never spoken about your family. Are they still around?" I tried to keep my tone a little positive and innocent, but I felt his body immediately tense up. He just sat there staring at where he held my hand. "Babe?" I sat up to look at him and he looked away.

"You know what?" I sat up now as well, and hung his feet off the side of the bed. "I forgot that I had a meeting with one of my professors in like thirty minutes and I still haven't showered." He began walking into my bathroom and closed the door behind him.

I threw myself back on my bed and sighed loudly. I didn't want to push him to talk about his family, but I feel as though he should trust me by now. We've been dating for nearly a year. Most girlfriends meet the family after a few months of dating. And here we were practically living together and I don't even know if he has siblings. He hasn't mentioned anything to do with his past, not even a dog.

I was listening to the shower running when I heard Derek's phone start ringing. I let it go to voice mail. It immediately started to ring again. I sat there and let it ring. But when whoever was calling, called back, I picked up the phone.

**L.**

That was the name on the screen for the person that was calling. I picked up his phone and swiped the screen to answer.

"Hello?" There was no hesitation when a woman answered on the other line.

"Where's Derek?" She sounded like she was half out of breath, and very serious.

"He's in the shower. Want me to give him a message?" I didn't know who this girl was, but she sounded liked she was in some kind of trouble.

"Yeah. Tell him to pick up his own phone. Who is this?" Now she sounded kind of hateful.

"It's Julie. His girlfriend. If you just tell me who's calling, I can have him call you back." It was very hard to keep my voice friendly, but I managed to do so.

"My brother's got himself a girlfriend huh? Figured he would learn from the first time he made that mistake. Well...Julie...tell him to call Laura. Immediately. It's important." The line clicked on the other end and I placed the phone back on the night stand.

The door to the bathroom opened and Derek stood there in his towel. "Were you just...talking to someone? I heard your voice." He had a confused look on his face, but a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Uhh..yeah. Your phone rang. And then it rang again. And then it rang again. So I picked it up." He must have picked up on the weird tone in my voice because he came over to stand in front of me.

"Who was it?" His eyes held concern, but his voice was stern.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to be nosy or anything. I just thought it might be important, and you were in the shower. So I answered it." I looked up at him and I felt my voice fall before I heard it. "It was..uh a girl named Laura. She said to call her back immediately. That it was important." I know it is wrong to test people, or to set them up to catch them in a lie, but I needed to know if he would tell the truth. So I didn't tell him that I knew it was his sister that called, or that she informed me that he hasn't said a single word about me after almost two full years of knowing each other.

His eyes hardened as he picked up his phone. He redialed Laura's number and walked out of the room. I heard some drawers shuffle and his voice raise a tad bit. When he emerged back into my bedroom, he was fully dressed and a little distressed.

"So, who's Laura?" I drew my legs up and hugged my arms around them. Derek seemed to be searching the room for something, and my guess would be his shoes. He was always misplacing those things.

"Just a close friend." Lie number one.

"Are you leaving?" He found one of his shoes, and put it on. He continued to look for the other.

"Yeah. I have that coffee meeting with a class friend remember?" Lie number two.

"Derek." He started scratching his head and looked under the bed. "Derek." I heard him make a noise of excitement, meaning he must have found his shoe. He sat up on his knees and looked up at me. "Derek." I raised my voice a little higher and that seemed to get his attention. "I need you to tell me the truth. Where's your family?" He sighed and dropped his head.

"I can't really talk about this right now Jules." He got up and sat on the side of the bed to put on his other shoe. I let go of my legs and stood up. "I've got to go to that meeting."

"What meeting? The one with your professor or at the coffee shop with your classmate?" He dropped his head again, knowing that he messed up. "There is no meeting Derek. My guess is that you are going to meet with your sister." His head jerked up and I saw his eyes go a little wide. "Yeah. Laura told me that you were her brother. She also didn't seem to know a thing about me." I had my arms crossed, but not because I was angry, but because I was afraid I'd fall apart if I let go of myself.

"Jules..." He stood up.

"The truth Derek. All I want is the truth." He started to walk towards me, but I didn't go towards him.

"Laura is my sister." I know that much, now anyways. "And yes, I'm going to meet up with her. I was running late, and that's why she called three times." I could tell that he was telling the truth, but I wanted to know more.

"Why have you been keeping me a secret from your family? Why don't you ever talk about them?" I had uncrossed my arms and kept them kind of awkwardly by my side.

"I haven't been keeping you a secret."

"Then what would you call it Derek? Am I not good enough for you family? Am I just some college fling? Because I was pretty sure we were way more than that." I felt my eyes start to water, but I tried hard to keep the tears in.

Derek closed the distance between us and was now cradling my cheek with his hand. "I swear to you. You are more than good enough. You hear me?" He leaned in to kiss my forehead, or cheek. I wouldn't know which because I pulled away. "You mean the world to me Jules. I love you and you know that's the truth." I looked up at him, and I felt a tear escape down my face.

"Then please just tell me about your family and why you keep this world separate from the one at home." I was practically begging him, but I could tell in his eyes that he wasn't going to give in.

He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. "I can't do that." My stomach dropped at the words that came out of his mouth. I pulled away from him completely and walked around him to my front door.

I opened it and didn't say a word. "Are you kicking me out?" He asked a little in disbelief.

"No. I'm sending you away to go and meet with you sister. Someone that you don't trust me enough to know about." I knew that my tone was a bit harsh, but at this moment I was bitter and didn't care.

"This is not about trust." He walked up to me and planted a huge kiss on my lips. I didn't exactly kiss him back, but I didn't pull away either. "I'm trying to protect you."

He crossed over the line between my apartment and outside. I went to close the door, but stopped long enough to say, "Please don't do that again."

"Do what?" He seemed confused confused, but I wasn't joking.

"Kiss me. Knowing that you are hiding something big from me. And you are, or else you would tell me. Relationships are built on trust Derek. And I trust you with my life. Why can't you just trust me?" Another tear, or possibly a few came down my cheek this time. He pushed the door open all the way and stood inches away from me.

"I'm going to kiss you. And you're going to kiss me back. Because I know that you love me and I can't leave here without that kiss. So if you want to stop me then just say the word." He waited a few seconds and then brought my lips up to meet his. His were filled with love but I was feeling nothing but hurt and frustration. The only word that I could use to describe this kiss was passionate. It was very passionate on both sides, just for different reasons. He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine.

"I still want the truth Derek." I felt his breath and knew it was mixing with my own.

"I know." He pulled back further and walked back towards the door.

"Derek?" He turned around and looked at me.

"Don't come back here unless you are going to give it to me." He closed his eyes. I wasn't usually the type of girl to give ultimatums. But I was definitely not the type of girl to live in a relationship built on lies. I closed the door and hoped that in a few hours Derek would be back, knocking.

* * *

_**Present Day- Julie and Deaton at the clinic with Scott still unconscious**_

"You're not one of supernatural abilities, yet you are still connected this world." Deaton was finishing caring to Scott's bullet wound, but glanced up at me for a moment. "Mind me asking how?" He looked back down and began dabbing at the open hole in Scott's skin.

"I dated Derek for three years." It was as simple as that and the only answer I could think of that would explain it all without questions. I saw Deaton smiling, but I didn't recall saying anything funny. "Why are you smiling?"

"Because you must be one tough lady to be able to handle Derek for three years." This time I smiled because I knew exactly what he meant.

"It has actually been four years that I've known him. It just took us a year to date." Deaton pulled out a square piece of gauze and placed it over the bullet hole.

"I noticed you said 'dated'. As in you two are no longer together?" This guy sure seemed to ask a lot of question. And even though I haven't known him but maybe an hour, he was the type of person that anyone could feel comfortable around.

"You'd be correct." I thought back to Derek and my heart fell an inch. He was being held captive somewhere, probably already being tortured.

"Well, I know that anything with Derek has always got to be complicated. But my opinion, he's lucky he has someone so loyal."

Before I could respond to him, Scott started to stir. "Easy there, Scott. I've got you all patched up and you should just be healed in no time." Scott grunted a little and then we all had a mild heart attack when the jingle of the bell came when a customer walked in. Deaton didn't say anything, but he pointed at us and then gave the sign to stay down and to stay quiet.

He walked out into the front and Scott and I both listened to the conversation.

"I'm here to pick-up." I had a hard time recognizing the voice but when I looked over at Scott he mouthed the word 'Peter'.

"I don't remember you dropping off." If anyone were to know where the Argents took Derek, it would be Peter. I went to stand up, but Scott pulled me back down.

"What? Are you crazy? He's the _alpha!"_ Scott's words were a harsh whisper, but I payed his words no attention as I yanked my arm out of his grasp and walked to the front where Deaton and Peter were having a very civilized showdown.

"I think maybe you should come back during regular hours." Deaton was holding his head high and impressively not backing down from Peter. Peter smiled at me when I walked up beside Deaton.

"Where'd they take Derek?" I stepped forward one step and Peter just continued to smile.

"You're a pretty one." I narrowed my eyes and he let out a soft chuckle. "And strong. I see why Derek cares so dearly for you." He looked down and then back up at me. "Unfortunately sweetheart, I do not have the slightest clue where my nephew is." I searched his face to see if I could see any signs of him lying, but unfortunately I felt as though he was telling the truth.

He looked back over to Deaton and stuck his hand out at the counter but pulled it back rather quickly. "Mountain Ash. That's an old one." He seemed to be slightly impressed, but I couldn't tell because he picked up a chair and threw it at the wall. I ducked but I saw that Deaton didn't even flinch. Who was this guy? Really.

"Like I said before. Maybe you should come back to regular open hours." Deaton spoke the words through his teeth, and there was something about him that made me feel intimidated. Which was odd since he wasn't anything supernatural, that I knew of.

Peter hatefully left the clinic, but not before at the door. He seemed to be whispering something, but I couldn't have been sure because he left so quickly afterwards.

"You use Mountain Ash too?" It took me months to find out about it. Since I found out from some older women down in Louisiana, I figured it was a rare piece of information.

"My family always has. It's an ancient form of protection. Are you familiar with it?" He kind of cocked his head, instantly intrigued.

"When I found out about Derek's...condition I guess, I researched about anything and everything related to it. I eventually came across it. Derek has always been persistent about me being protected." He led me back into the room where we left Scott. But now he was no where to be seen. "Where'd he go?"

"Oh, they tend to do that." I turned my head to face him. "Just disappear. I'm sure he is somewhere with Stiles. Or at home." Speaking of home. I still have a ton that I need to unpack in my new home.

"I really don't mean to just bail on you, especially since I was rather enjoying our conversation." He smiled up at me. "But I just moved into a new place and I have basically...everything left to still unpack." He chuckled slightly and nodded his head.

"I completely understand. Listen here though, my door is always open if you need to talk about anything revolving around...Derek and Scott. It's a messy world you've been dragged into to and information is key. And I've got a lot of it." My heart felt a little warmer when he welcomed me in like that. I reached over and took one of his business cards.

"I'll call you." I said before leaving the clinic.

* * *

The next morning came a bit too early for me. I had stayed up much later than I had expected unpacking stuff. Then again, every ten minutes I would check my phone or try calling Derek again and again. There was still no word on him and I was running out of time to find him. I decided to pick up my phone and dial Stiles because he would be my best bet in finding him. Between him and Scott, Stiles was the clever one.

_"Yo!" _He picked up on the first ring.

_"Stiles. Any word on Derek? I still have nothing." _I held my breath as he answered, just hoping that he would have good news.

_"Nothing on this side." _I heard Scott's voice in the background. _"Alright, I'm going to put you on speaker phone Jules."_

_"Did you see my phone at the clinic? Do you know if Deaton took it off of me?" _Scott's voice let me know that he was seriously freaking out over his phone.

_"You didn't have anything on you. Well, except your clothes. Have you heard from Derek?" _I think that was Stiles that I heard groan in the background.

_"I know that the Argents have me."_

_"Well, didn't you say that he walked into gunfire. He sounds pretty dead." _Stiles was being really negative.

_"He's not dead. The Argents need him alive to get to the alpha." _I could hear Scott throwing stuff around in his room.

_"Well then let's just let them do their job. They use Derek to get the alpha. Problems solved." _It was obvious that I missed the fact that Derek and Stiles didn't get along very well.

_"Stiles, they are going to torture him. With electricity, bats, knives, arrows, basically anything you can think of. We are not going to just leave him there to endure that. We are not going to let him die." _I tried to keep my voice from sounding too hateful, but I feel like I slightly failed at doing so.

_"Okay. Okay. Well, Scott you probably lost your phone when you and Derek were fighting. Remember that? When you were trying to stop Derek from killing Jackson."_

_"He wasn't going to kill anyone!" _Scott and I both said the words at the same time and then there was an awkward silence.

_"I'm not going to let him die Stiles. We're going to find him. And then we are going to save him." _I would have never guessed that Scott would end up on my side like this.

_"I'll keep looking on my end. Call me if you two find anything." _I hung up the phone and went to get dressed.

I was going back to the Hale house to see if I could find anything that could lead me to Derek.

* * *

I had been walking around the woods for hours, armed of course. But it had grown so quiet that when my phone started to ring I nearly jumped out of my own skin.

_"Yes Lydia?" _She hasn't spoken to me much since I called her out on the Jackson thing and making out with Scott.

"_Allison is making me go to Formal with that reject. Stiles." _I was happy that this was a phone conversation because I couldn't hide the smile that formed on my lips.

_"Well, I think that it would be sweet. Stiles is a good guy Lyds. You could do much worse." _I decided that I was going to take a food break and maybe switch out some of my weapons from the trunk of my car. So, I started making my way back towards the road.

_"Still doesn't mean that I have to like it. Where are you? Is that wind that is making your voice sound all distorted?" _Clever girl.

_"I just took a little walk through the woods. I'm heading back now to my place though. You coming over to get ready?" _It's been a while since I was able to be involved with a school dance for Lydia. I thought it might be nice to help her get ready and what not.

_"Yeah. We'll be over when we get our dresses all picked out."_

_"We?" _Please say Allison.

_"Uh..yeah. I have Allison with me. Weren't you listening?" _Probably not.

_"See you in a bit sis." _I hung up the phone again and started jogging down the rest of the path towards my car. I needed to get home and do some research before they got there.

* * *

I had been looking through myth and folklore books for hours. And I have been able to find absolutely nothing so far about locating another wolf.

"Jules?" I heard the footsteps and voices down the stairs and slammed my book shut.

I jogged down the stairs and saw their smiling faces. I was so happy to see Allison. Odds were she knew of the place that her family was holding Derek. She just might not know that they are holding him.

"Your mom not want you at home to get ready? I'm not trying to be rude, but our mom made me take a thousand and one pictures for every occasion." There was a strange expression on her face.

"Uh...my family is kind of busy tonight. So Lydia said I could get ready here. That's cool right?" There was something in her voice that made me think that maybe she did know that they were holding Derek. Which is weird since Scott said that Allison didn't know anything about the hunters.

"Not a problem at all."

An hour and a half later and the girls were ready to go. I was unable to get anything from Allison due to the fact that she was being extremely quiet.

"You girls stay in the school and with your dates at all times. They are still looking for Derek Hale, and I want you two to be safe." I got a sympathetic look from Lydia and the look on Allison's face was shocking. She looked like she was about to cry, but she recovered quickly.

"Oh I'm sure he is long gone by now. With all the cops looking for him and stuff." She was nervous, and she was stuttering. She knew where he was. She knew Derek was a werewolf.

Then a light bulb just randomly went off in my head. I knew exactly how to find Derek.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Flashback- Exactly one week after Derek left Julie's apartment to meet Laura**_

_It's been seven days since I had seen or heard from Derek. Seven days. I had been so positive that he would have been back that night to talk about things. When I had told him not to come back unless he had the truth, I didn't think he would take me up on that. He hadn't been in the classes we had together, and when I asked around with his friends about him, they all said that they hadn't seen him in about a week. So, where the hell did he go?_

_I heard my phone ringing and I jumped up from where I had been laying in my bed to find it. I searched everywhere, but I couldn't find the darn thing. Luckily is started ringing again and I found it in an old pair of sweatpants I had thrown in the floor. I pushed the answer button before I even saw whose name it was on the screen._

_"Derek?"_

_"You've got to be kidding me." The disapproving voice of my sister rang over the line. "Are you still moping around, waiting on that jerk to come back to you?" I sank back down on the floor and bit my bottom lip. "Jules, do I need to come up there and get you out of this slump?"_

_"It's only been a week. I know he went to go meet with his sister, and it did seem pretty urgent. So, he's probably just taking care of some family stuff." I had been reasoning with myself all week, and I nearly had myself convinced that I was right._

_"He hasn't contacted you in a week. And that was after you gave him the choice of telling the truth or walking away. It looks like to me, that he chose to walk away babe." I knew she was right, but I didn't want to believe it. And because of that mind-set, I didn't._

_"He loves me Lydia. He doesn't say it much, but when he does say it, you can tell that he really means it. A person doesn't give up on that." Derek wouldn't give up on that. I knew he wouldn't._

_"Well, fine. If you want to stay up there and mope in your bed and eat Funyuns then do it." I looked up at the 3/4 empty bag of Funyuns laying near my pillow and smiled. I had been eating them since I was five. "But if he doesn't show up within the next 48 hours with a damn good excuse then I am coming up there and pulling you out of this. You can't let people see you down, they'll only step on to keep you there." I smiled again. She was pulling a grasshopper-surpasses-master move. I had been telling her that since she was little; right after she made her first bad grade and she was crying outside the school during recess. "And if he does show up." There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Then I am still coming up. To kick his ass." That made me chuckle and I heard a puff of air on the other line. "I'm being serious Jules." Lydia sounded super serious, and that only made me laugh harder. Which was a probably a good thing since I had been crying right before she called._

_"Now go and put on Armageddon so you can cry like a baby and get all the tears out. Then you won't cry anymore. He's not worth it, because if he was then he would have never made you cry to begin with."_

_"Thanks Lyds." My voice was much softer than it usually was._

_"Well, you're my sister. It's my job."_

_"Love you too." I hung up the phone and went over to my movie cabinet._

* * *

_I was right in the middle of the scene where Bruce Willis said goodbye to his daughter when I thought I heard my door open. I muted the movie and stayed really quiet and listened more closely. I definitely heard my door close. I reached under the bed and retrieved the bat that I had always kept there. My parents wanted me to get a license to carry a gun, but I thought that was a bit overboard and stuck with the usual defense weapon. I literally walked on my toes to my bedroom door and put my ear up to it. I couldn't hear any movement, but my hairs on my arms were standing up. Going with my instinct that someone was definitely in my apartment, I decided to draw him away from the door so I could get out of being trapped in my own apartment. I banged on my bedroom door and hoped that whoever was in the place came to the noise. I opened my door and hid behind it._

_I heard footsteps, but the odd thing was that they were light footsteps. They neared the open door with hesitation, and then a foot crossed the threshold. I swung with as much power as I could muster up. My hands rattled with the bat as it struck the intruder. I watched the bat hit the cheek, and from the sounds of it, crack the bone. When the person turned around, I immediately dropped the bat._

_"Derek?! What are you doing here? Oh my goodness..." He was cupping his cheek and I rushed to his side to see how bad it was. When I reached my hands up to move his, he didn't allow it._

_"I came here to make things right and you hit me with a bat?" He turned to me, and even though his voice was raised, he didn't seem mad._

_"You didn't knock or announce you were here. I thought you were someone trying to kill me or something." He took one hand from his cheek and placed in near his rib cage on the right side of his body. I followed his movements and saw that there was his black shirt was drenched in blood. A small gasp escaped my lips as I took the sight in. "What happened?" I could barely get my voice sturdy._

_He looked up at me and seemed a real hesitant to answer my question, even though he had said he came here to make things right. "You want to fix things? Start by telling me why you are covered in blood and are those...bullet holes?" I saw that there wasn't one but three places where blood was pouring out of his body._

_"Before I tell you anything. I need to know that you won't leave." His eyes were boring into mine and there was a desperation that I had never seen before in him. "Too many people have left. I couldn't handle it if I lost you too." I covered his hand, which was still holding his cheek, with mine. Then I cupped his other cheek with my other hand._

_"If you don't tell me what's going on, you are going to lose me." He groaned, from pain I assume, and I saw that his legs were shaking trying to hold himself up. "Let's get you to the bed and lay you down._

_We were able to get him to the bed, but only barely. He was nothing but muscle and bones, which was something that I never complained about, but he was almost too heavy for me to get to the bed. He sat up to allow me to pull his shirt over his head. My heart fell over a cliff when I saw the bullet holes. It was almost as if the bullet was burning his skin. "I need you to call Laura. She'll be able to get the bullets out."_

_"Shouldn't we just take you to a hospital? You have lost a lot of blood, and I think that the bullets are poisoning you or something. It looks bad Derek. Really bad." I watched as his face twisted up in pain again._

_"No hospitals. Just call..." He looked as if he was about to pass out, and I knew that sometimes too much pain could cause a person to do that. His eyes were closed, and after a few seconds, he shot back up. Only this time he didn't look anything like the Derek that was just laying on my bed. His eyes were glowing blue, and he had what looked like fangs. "Call Laura!" He was an animal. His words came out in a growl and that caused me to scream slightly. I ran into the front part of the apartment, looking for his jacket._

_It took me only a minute to find it, and when I did, I reached into the pockets to find his cell phone. I pulled it out and found his sister's contact. I pushed the call button and listened as it rang. I wiped frantically at the few tears that came down my cheeks. Just when I thought that she wasn't going to answer, her voice came loud and angry over the line. "Where the hell have you been? We get attacked and you just leave me? What if I had been shot?!"_

_"Laura? It's...uh..it's Julie. Derek's here. At my apartment. And...um...he's been shot. But I think that the bullets did something to him, because he doesn't really look like Derek. He growled at me and told me to call you. He looks bad Laura. I think I should take him to the hospital. There's one just..."_

_"No hospitals!" Her voice was just as frantic as Derek's when I mentioned a hospital. "Shit..." Her voice was so low that I could barely make out what she had said. "What's your address? I'll be over in less than two minutes."_

_I gave her my address and then she hung up the phone before I could say anything else._

* * *

_It literally took her less than two minutes to get here. She banged on the door and when I opened it, she rushed past me with a bag. "Where's he at?"_

_I pointed to the back bedroom and she rushed through the hallway and into the room. I followed after her, and I heard yet another curse word leave her lips. "He's been passed out for about seven minutes. I didn't know what to do... is he okay?" She yanked open the bag and pulled out something very similar to tongs but they were extra sharp. She dug into his skin and pulled the bullets out with no problem. All three bullets were placed on my night stand. She put some nasty looking rub on the bullet wounds and something unbelievable happened next._

_His wounds were starting to heal, it was slow, but it was very visible that they were healing. "What the hell is he?" I didn't mean the words to come out, I mean to keep them as a thought, but they just kind of escaped. Laura looked up at me._

_I saw here eyes flash red, not blue like Derek's, but red. Hers were much scarier than Derek's were. "We are werewolves." She stood up and started to walk to me slowly, her eyes were back to normal. Every step that she took towards me, I took a step backwards. That was, until I ran out of room to step backwards and was now backed against the wall. She smiled at me before lunging. "And this will help you sleep." I felt a slight sting in my arm before everything started going a little bit dark, and then completely dark._

* * *

_"You drugged her?"_

_"It's a mild sedative! She'll be awake any minute." Laura and Derek. At least it sounded like them._

_"Why would you do that?" Derek sounded upset, but like when he was talking to be earlier, he didn't sound overly mad. Probably because it was his sister._

_"She was going to ask a ton of questions. And I knew that you would be pissed if I gave her the answers. So I used what the vet gave me to put her to sleep for a little bit. Just until you woke up. Now you can handle this how you wanted to." Laura didn't sound anything like she did before when she was speaking to me. She sounded almost...nice._

_"What did you tell her?" Derek's voice was closer now._

_"That we were werewolves." I heard a small growl, like a dog, but I didn't have a dog. "And I might have flashed my wolf eyes." Wolf eyes? Her eyes were red, not wolf-like. Wolf eyes were normally yellow. I think._

_I was finally able to move my head a little bit and I opened my eyes to see Derek and Laura at the foot of my bed. My vision was still a little hazy, but it was definitely clearing up._

_Derek came over and sat beside me on the bed. "Hey Jules." I felt his hand grab mine and in that moment it was like I was thrown back into reality. I yanked my hand out of his. I saw the hurt expression on his face, but he hid it well. "You said that you wanted the truth, and if you are ready, then I am ready to give it to you." I turned my head to look at Laura._

_"You drugged me!" Laura put her hands up in defense._

_"For good reason. This is Derek's story to tell, not mine. And if I hadn't drugged you, then you would have just asked all these questions. And it would have gotten messy. You should really be thanking me." There was small grin on her face._

_"Shut up Laura." Derek said without even looking at her. He kept his eyes on me. "I know that you are pissed. And you have every right to be. But I really want to show you everything. Will you come with me?" He stood up and held out his hand. He saw my hesitation and gave a curt nod. "What happened earlier was a reaction to the wolfsbane. I normally am very much in control of my... other side. But wolfsbane messes with that control. I promise you that won't happen again tonight."_

_I looked between Derek and Laura as they awaited my answer. "You two really believe you are werewolves?"_

_Derek looked at me as I sat up and stood from the bed. "You wanted the truth Jules." I looked into his eyes. "This is it. I need you to trust me." I saw in his eyes that he was telling the truth. Or at least he thought he was telling the truth. As far as I was concerned, werewolves didn't exist._

_"Alright. I'll go with you." I put my hand in his and he led me outside to his car. Laura got into the back seat when Derek told her to._

_We drove in a silence that wasn't exactly awkward, but it was definitely something. Derek pulled off on the side of the road near a forest._

_Derek got out of the car and opened my door for me to get out. "If this is where you guys drag me off to some dark corner to chop me up limb by limb and then feed them to some kind of animal, then you can count me out."_

_"I like her." I turned to see Laura take the last step out of Derek's car and then she walked past us._

_Derek turned to me and offered me his hand. "I'm not going to kill you. I just need to show you something and this is the safest place to do that." I put my hand in his and let him lead me to where he was taking me._

_About fifteen minutes later Derek stopped in a small clearing with trees surrounding it. On the trees were claw marks. I'm talking claw marks from a massive animal. Derek let go of my hand and went to go stand next to Laura._

_"Please don't run away." There it was, that look of desperation in his eyes. He turned his head and nodded to Laura. They both put their heads down and when they looked back up at me. They both closely resembled Wolverine._

_I took a few steps toward Derek. I was close enough to touch him. I looked up at him and saw his icy blue eyes. Then I glanced over at Laura, her eyes red as blood, but still glowing. Derek nodded when I put my hand up near his cheek. I rand my fingers along the side of his face. He really was telling the truth. I looked over at Laura and when I started to walk towards her, she backed up and then with a blind of the eye, her face was back to normal._

_"Whoah. You can turn it off and on like that?" She smiled and nodded to Derek, whose face was also back to normal. I smiled. "That's neat."_

_"Only very experiences werewolves can control it like that. We were born this way. Our whole family was." Derek glanced at Laura, and I noted a sad tone in his voice when his said the word family._

_"Is that why you never wanted me to meet them? You thought I would be scared away?" Because now it all made sense._

_"No. He never allowed you to meet them because they are all dead." Laura's voice wasn't sad, instead it was filled with anger. "He left that part out didn't he? And I suppose he left out the part where it was all his little girlfriend's fault?"_

_I turned to face Derek. "They were murdered." He corrected Laura's words._

_"Murdered? That would be an understatement dear brother. Slaughtered would be a more accurate term. Kate used you and then she lured our family into our house. She locked them in the basement and then paid a few arsonist to burn our house to the ground. And if we hadn't been at school, then we would have died that night too." My heart felt like it had been stabbed, and it wasn't even my family she was talking about it._

_"I think you should go back up the car. Give me a minute to talk to Jules." Derek looked over at Laura and I saw her eyes flash red for a moment. She walked slowly, and deadly over to stand in front of Derek._

_"Don't forget who's alpha, brother." Her words were laced with venom, but she walked back up the hill and towards the car anyway._

* * *

_It was probably about thirty minutes later, when Derek finally finished telling me about his family, and Kate, and all about being a werewolf._

_"There's so much more to it all. But those are the basics." He bent his head down and then his voice got real soft. "So are you ready to run for the hills yet?"_

_I reached down and intertwined my fingers with his. He looked up at me and seemed to be searching for something. "I'm not going anywhere." I leaned up and brushed my lips against his softly. His hand came around to cup the back of my neck and he pressed his lips harder against mine._

_"Oh wonderful. Here I am, sitting in a hot car, at night time. And you guys are making out. You can do that back at the apartment. Let's go." She motioned for us to stand up from where we had been sitting against a tree. I couldn't help the small laugh that came out of my mouth, and it seemed to cause a chain reaction because Derek started laughing too. We looked up to see Laura putting her hand on her hip and glaring. "I'm not kidding. Get your sappy butts up and take me home." Derek stood and offered me his hand to help me up._

_As we walked back to the car, I could help but hope that this wasn't a dream. As odd and scary as my night has been, I finally felt like I was seeing the real Derek. And I wasn't ready to give that up just yet._

* * *

_**Present Day- Julie is off trying to find Scott**_

I had been speeding all the way to the school. I had to find Scott, and I knew that my best bet would be to find Allison. And I knew for a fact that Allison was at the school. I had figured out how to find Derek, but I needed Scott to do that. I pulled into the in a speedy hurry and saw Jackson being escorted by Argent. Well, that couldn't be good. I waited for Chris to drop Jackson off at the front steps, before I got out of my car.

I watched Argent and his goons go around back of the school as I jogged up the stairs to catch up with Jackson. "Jackson!" I hollered out his name and when he turned around his eyes got wide.

"What are you doing here Jules. You've got to get out of here!" He tried to turn me around and lead me down the stairs but I refused to let him.

"What did you say to Chris Argent?" Jackson looked extremely out of sorts, for him. He looked rattled.

"I...I...I.." It sounded like he was wanting to say something, but nothing was really coming out.

"Jackson!" I shook him slightly and his head snapped.

"He promised that he wouldn't hurt him..." Scott. He had to be talking about Scot. They already had Derek.

I knew I needed to go help out Scott, but my mind couldn't help but think about Lydia. I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen tonight and I didn't need her anywhere around it. I looked back at Jackson.

"I need you to go in there and find Stiles and Lydia. Keep an eye on her, okay? Keep her out of trouble. I don't care what you have to do, just don't let her anywhere near the werewolves or hunters." I turned on my heels and started jogging off towards the back of the school where I saw the hunters go.

"Hey Velma!" I heard Jackson call after me and when I turned around I saw him jogging down the stairs. He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight. "Be careful." He pulled back and I smiled at him.

"Always." I gave him a more serious look before saying, "You take care of my sister." I saw him nod once and then I went back to jogging behind the school.

When I rounded the corner I saw two black vehicles drive behind both sides of a bus. And then I heard a howl and knew that Scott was in trouble. I was running up when I also heard a scream. Allison. She and Scott must have been outside when Chris came looking for him. While I was stopped I saw a figure run into the woods. Knowing it was probably Scott, I ran after it.

Several hundred feet later, I stopped when I saw Scott kneeling down on all fours. His head snapped up when he heard me take a step towards him and I saw that he was completely wolfed out. He gave me a low growl, and that caused me to be more cautious.

"Easy there ...Scott. I know that the Argents are wanting to ruin your relationship with Allison. And trust me, I feel bad for you. And I will try my best to help you out, but I need your help. I need you to find Derek for me. Only you two together can take down the alpha, and we both know that is what is most important right now." He stood up slowly and I noticed that his face started going back to normal.

"You'll really help me keep Allison?" Of course after all I said, that would be what he paid attention to. And normally I would never offer to help out a werewolf keep his hunter girlfriend, but I needed Scott. I still didn't trust Allison, but hopefully now that Scott will be letting me stay closer to her, I can keep a better eye on her and her family.

"Yes. But I need you to help me find Derek first." Derek was the most important thing on my list right now. I knew that Lydia was safe back at the school, and I wanted nothing more than for the alpha to die tonight.

"And you think that I know where he is?"

"No. But I do know how to find him. Howl." He looked at me confused. "I need you to howl." Still confusion rang over his face, but then within a split second, realization hit.

I covered my ears as Scott let out a rather loud howling noise. A few seconds later, Derek answered Scott's call. Scott and I smiled at each other. Then Scott started to run off towards Derek's howl.

"No, wait. There's stuff in my car that I need to get out. I'll drive us." We both started running back towards my car and when we finally reached it you could hear our labored breathing.

"I ..think that..I know...why Laura came...back to Beacon...Hills." That got my attention. I looked up at Scott, a lot surprised.

"Excuse me?" Scott reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a picture of a deer with a spiral on it.

"She was beckoned." Damn. Peter had lured her back here. He lied to Derek, and Derek has no idea.

"We've got to get to Derek. Howl again." He did as he was told and I opened my trunk to reveal all of my weapons.

I slipped on my exo-gloves. "What are those?"

"They are gloves. I designed them perfectly to be like a personal set of claws. Only these claws have an extra punch. If they are inserted into skin, and I push this tiny little button here, my opponent becomes electrocuted." I smiled when Scott's eyes went wide. I put on my belt that held the wolfsbane grenades, and then I pulled out the bow that Derek bought me, but I engineered.

"And those?" He pointed to the small objects I had in slots on my belts.

"Those are grenades. I set one of these babies off and you literally inhale wolfsbane dust." I watched as he took big gulp of air.

"And here we are afraid of the hunters. Looks like we should be afraid you instead." I laughed and got into the drivers seat of the car.

"No. You should just be happy that I am on your side."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, after a full car ride of Scott sticking his head out of the car, we stopped in front of the old Hale house.

"They were keeping him in his basement the whole time?" Scott seemed to be upset that he had missed this fact.

Then I remembered something Derek had said about there being underground tunnels beneath his house. "No. Not in his basement." We got out of the car and went into the house. I found the door to the basement and we went down the stairs. Once inside, I went to the south wall and opened the door to the tunnels. "Beneath his basement."

"Of course. Because Derek's creepy house wouldn't be complete with underground tunnels." I stifled a laugh and continued down the hallway to find Derek.

I stopped when I saw a man come out of one of the rooms. I put my hand up for Scott to stop behind me and then I turned around to signal him to remain quiet. I waited for the man to round the corner before I went for the room door.

When we opened the door and both fell silent when we saw Derek chained up like...well, an animal. "Julie, what the hell are you doing here." I rushed over and stood up on a chair and pulled a bobby pin out to try and pick the lock of the handcuffs.

"Well, that's a silly question. I'm here to rescue my damsel in distress." I winked up at him, but he had a hard look on his face.

"Scott, I'm going to kill you for letting her come along." I opened my mouth to defend Scott, but before I could let any words out, we all heard footsteps.

I quickly got down and when I turned around I saw that Scott was no where to be seen. I had only freed one hand of Derek's. The same man came in from earlier and I put on my best flirtatious smile.

"Oh hey. I'm Kate's newest hunter in training. She sent me down here to check on things, but you weren't here. So, I figured I would just wait." The guy cracked his knuckles and then his neck.

"You're no friend of Kate's. I was just with her."

I smiled devilishly. "Maybe I'm not. But I did bring a friend of my own." I looked over his shoulder to Scott who attacked the man with ease.

We both looked back to Derek. "We need your help to kill the alpha." Scott asked Derek, but based on the hard look in his eyes, Derek wasn't going to help just yet.

"Look I don't know what your uncle told you, but he lied." Derek pulled on his other hand.

"Scott. Get me down from here." Derek tugged a little bit more.

"No. Not until you promise to help me. I don't want to be like this anymore!" I looked over at Derek confused by what him being a werewolf and not being a werewolf had to do with the alpha.

"There's a rumor that if you kill the one that changed you, then you are free of the curse." Interesting.

"Peter lured Laura here, Derek. He tricked her into coming here so he could take her life and become the alpha himself." Scott got out the picture and showed him.

"So will you help us?" Derek's head dropped real low and then a semi-loud noise rang through the room as he broke the handcuff.

"Yeah.. I'll help you." His words sounded deadly, and if I was Peter, then I would be nervous.

We all turned to get out of the tunnels before Kate came back. Derek grabbed my wrist and turned me around. "Jules wait a sec." I was face to face with him now and he looked right into my eyes.

"Why'd you come for me?" He voice was low and rough and it caught me a little off guard.

"Because I figured no one else would." It wasn't a full lie.

"You were worried about me." A small grin appeared on his face.

"I always worry about you Derek." That was the truth.

"People are going to die tonight. I don't want you near this house." Now there was worry in his eyes.

"I'm not leaving. You and Scott need help."

"Must you always be so stubborn? Leave. Go and take care of your sister."

"No. I want to stay here and help. If I don't look after you then who..." My words were stopped by Derek's lips crushing against mine. It was a longer kiss than I had expected, and as much as I probably should have pulled away, I didn't.

Derek was the one to end the kiss. He pulled back and smiled at me. "I've always loved that stubbornness." I heard noise coming from above us in the house and I looked back to Derek.

"That kiss doesn't change anything."

"Of course it doesn't." He ran past me and up the basement stairs. I was following when I heard my cellphone ringing.

I saw that it was Jackson on the screen.

_"Jules. I have bad news. Lydia was..." _His voice trailed off into silence.

_"Lydia was what?" _I had sinking feeling in the bottom of my stomach. If anything had happened to her, it would have been my fault. I should have just taken her from the school myself.

_"She was out looking for Jackson and when I found her, So had Peter. He didn't kill her, but he did bite her. The doctors are saying that she will be okay though." _That was Stiles's voice now. The words 'she will be okay' were the only thing keeping me from falling apart.

_"Peter...bit...her?!" _Then that would mean she would either turn or die.

_"She's okay though Julie. I'm looking at her right now. She's passed out, but she's okay." _Stiles was trying to keep me calmed down, but I was way past that point.

_"Can you two stay with her? I'll be there as quickly as I can get there." _Right after I killed Peter myself. I didn't wait for them to answer me, I just hung up the phone. I loaded an arrow into my bow. One of my arrows that would electrocute on impact. Any normal arrow wouldn't kill a werewolf, but the electric shock would slow them down. And I would need those thirty seconds to strike.

I went up the stairs and saw that Peter had Kate by the throat and Allison was standing in front of them. When Allison saw me, her eyes went wide.

"Julie? What are you doing here?" Hm...she had a bow of her own. I guess that was her weapon of choice when it came to hunting. I ignored Allison and drew my bow on Peter.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you sweetheart. You shoot, I kill her." He nodded his head at Kate. I smiled at him and gave a short laugh.

"Kill her. She means less than nothing to me." Allison looked to me with a mouth wide open.

"Don't kill her please..." Allison begged Peter.

"I don't even know who she is." Kate said in response to me.

"I'm Derek's girlfriend you bitch. And I know exactly what you did and how black your heart really is." I aimed my arrow at Peter's head and without hesitation he moved Kate's head directly in the arrow's path. He struck dead between her eyes and electricity flowed through her body finishing the job.

Allison rushed over to Kate's body and Peter took this chance to run out the front door. I threw my grenade and it exploded right at his feet. He stumbled down the stairs and when I followed him. I saw headlights. Stiles and Jackson emerged out of the car and threw bottles of liquid that caught fire when they impacted Peter's body.

"I told you to stay with Lydia!" I yelled at them both. Jackson threw a second bottled and the flames got much higher. Peter stumbled around and the flames eventually died down. Derek went over to his limp body laying on the ground.

He pulled his arm back and right before he was about to finish Peter off, Scott stopped him. "Wait! If you kill him, then I remain a werewolf." I watched as Derek's eyes gave away the dark part in his soul before he slashed Peter's throat.

When Derek lifted his head back up, his eyes flashed red. Just like Laura's used to. "I'm the alpha now." I wanted to stay and make sure that Derek was okay, but I needed to see my sister.

I walked up to Jackson. "I'm going to go and see Lydia. Give Scott a ride will you?" I walked past him and got into my car.

* * *

I reached the hospital and was near tears. I walked up the flights of stairs until I reached where they were holding Lydia. The sheriff stopped me before I reached her room.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but no visitors this late."

"I'm her sister. I'm family." I looked at him like he was stupid and he lifted his arm and let me past.

I opened her door and rushed to her side. I grabbed her hand and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I'm sorry sweetie. I should have stayed and watched after you. I never should have left." I kissed her hand. "I promise you that I won't leave."

I must have fallen asleep by her bedside because when the doors opened and I saw both Scott and Stiles crawling on the floor the clock read that it was nearly 2:00 a.m.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" I looked at them.

Stiles went to lift up Lydia's bandage. "What you are doing?" I looked at him and I knew my voice must have been a little hateful.

"If Peter bit her then she should be changing. Which means, the bit would be almost healed by now." He lifted the bandage up the rest of the way and there sat Lydia's awful and bloody wound.

"She's not healing.." Scott said.

"So does that mean she's not a werewolf?" Stiles looked up at me.

"I don't what she is..." But whatever she was, I knew that I would be by her side every step of the way.

* * *

**Sorry it took so long to update guys! I really hope that you liked this chapter... It ended Season 1 and I am so excited to start on Season 2. We've got a few surprises in store for you. :) Please take the few minutes to stop and review. Just to let me know that you are still reading and enjoying. It would really mean a lot and it would help me know how many fans I have out there for this story. Let me know what you guys are hoping to see in the next season! Much love to you all :)**


	7. Chapter 7

_**Flashback...**_

_Derek was standing behind me and he had one arm aligned with my left arm and the other hand was under my elbow. He had bought me a bow. According to him, it was a much stealthier weapon than a gun. And much more effective. Bullets, for the most part, passed right through a person's body. Sometimes you would have to dig them out. But that's just it, you can dig a bullet out. With arrows, you have to break the end off and pull it through the rest of the way through your body. It takes longer to heal from an arrow, which causes more damage._

_"Now remember, take a deep breath before you release. It will steady your aim." Derek's words touched like a feather on the back of my neck. I wanted to turn around and kiss him, but that was going to be a problem. The only way I could get him to train me in defending myself, was by withholding any physical contact, romantically that is. And it was hard to withhold those type of gestures when he didn't wear a shirt. Like he wasn't right now._

_I closed my eyes while I took the deep breath. When I reopened them, I clicked the release and my arrow hit the target. It just didn't hit where I wanted it to. I sighed and went to grab another arrow to load._

_Derek put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed. "Not everyone hits dead center first try babe."_

_I loaded the arrow and brought the target back up in my sights. "I'm not everyone." I didn't close my eyes this time. And when I released I hit dead center. I turned around and wore a confident smile on my face. "I always hit my target." He smiled and reached for my bow._

_"Oh really?" He arched an eyebrow. I nodded my head up and down. "You're just spoiled and used to getting what you want." He used a joking tone, but underneath I felt a sense of truth._

_"I worked hard for what I have. In my family, you want something, you take it. It's kind of like what Yoda says 'Do or do not. There is no try.'." He laughed at me and laid the bow on the ground._

_When he stood back up fully, he faced me and then laid one hand on each hip. He pulled me closer to him. He leaned down so close that his breath tickled my nose. "And what do you want right now?" I threw my arms up and over his shoulders._

_He leaned down and kissed my neck. "Hmm...I like that. But I'm not sure if that's what I'm looking for.." I moved my head to the side so that way he could have better access to my neck. I felt him smile when his lips moved to the bottom of my ear._

_"This?" He nipped the bottom of my ear lobe, which caused me to laugh slightly. He moved to the bottom of my jaw line. "Or maybe this.." His tongue flickered on my skin and I let my head fall back. I shook me head and then I stood straight up again._

_I pulled away from him and shook my head. "Looks like you can't give me what I want." I turned away from him. But he snapped me back to him when he grabbed my wrist and crushed his lips against mine._

_"I'm pretty sure that I can give you exactly what you want Jules." The words left his mouth in a rush before he brought his lips back to mine. I smiled around his kiss. He lifted me up and my legs gave way and wrapped around his waist. His lips moved to the hollow spot above my collar bone, and he let out a small growl. Which was something that I was really growing accustomed to. I started laughing at just the thought of me dating a werewolf. It was a crazy situation._

_Derek pulled back and looked at me curiously. "What's so funny?"_

_"It's just the thought that I am sitting here, with my legs wrapped around a guy, who is actually a werewolf. That's just not normal." I let out a small chuckle, but I saw a glimpse of hurt in Derek's eyes. He let me feet touch the ground again and he turned around._

_"We should get back to your training." He picked up the bow, but didn't turn around to hand it to me. I hadn't meant to hurt his feelings. And that was apparently something that I did._

_"Hey."I walked up to his back and planted a kiss on the spiral between his shoulders blade. I absolutely loved that tattoo and him. "Make no mistake Derek Hale. You are my werewolf, and nothing is going to change that." I hugged him from behind and I felt his hands cover mine. _

_He turned around and gave me a soft smile. I didn't get those smiles often, and I treasured every one of them. "I know that nothing about me is normal. And I could never ask you to stay with a monster.." I grabbed his face between my hands._

_"If you pull this 'I'm a monster and don't deserve love' crap one more time, then I am shooting you in the ass with one of these arrows. You're stuck with me wolfboy." I pulled his face down and kissed him. He dropped the bow and pulled me in closer._

_He had one hand on the back of my neck, but the other was in his pocket searching for something. "Why don't we take this back to my place?" He smiled and shook his head._

_"That's not what I was looking for..." He dug deeper in his pocket and then pulled something out in his fist. "Here it is. Close your eyes." He ordered, but I narrowed my eyes curiously at him. "Quit being so stubborn. Let a guy be charming.." I smiled and closed eyes, although I was still a little reluctant._

_I felt something tie around my neck and when I opened my eyes I was looking down at the most intricate piece of jewelry I had ever seen. _

_"It's a triskelion. Just like my tattoo. I figured since you were so obsessed with mine, I'd get you your own. But I'm not too fond of girls with tattoos, so I had the pendant specially made." Derek was rambling, and he was nervous._

_"Why, is Derek Hale, the toughest guy I know, nervous?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He shove his hands in his pockets._

_"Do you like it?" I looked up to him. _

_"Derek, your tattoo stands for you family, your way of living. I don't need to be wearing that as a symbol. It's yours." I loved the necklace, and I didn't want to give it back. But the spiral was a part of Derek._

_He started nodding his head. "You're right. It's a part of me. But so are you." He pulled my chin up to look at him more clearly. "You are my family Jules." There was love in his eyes that was a rare sight to see on Derek. He leaned down to kiss me. It turned hot fast and I had to pull away._

_"If we don't go back to my place now, then I am probably going to have your clothes ripped to pieces right here in the middle of the woods." Derek was laughing and I slapped him for making fun of me._

_"No, no. It's just, I'm the one with the claws. So, it'll be your clothes that would be shred to pieces." I smiled at him and reached up to whisper in his ear._

_"Don't underestimate a severely turned on woman. We all have claws of our own." I nipped the bottom of his ear lobe and then kissed his neck._

_"Yep. Training is over for today. I'm taking you back to your place." He picked me up and started carrying my up the hill. I might have a werewolf for a boyfriend, but I wouldn't trade him for anything._

* * *

**_Present day... A few weeks after Derek became the alpha and Julie killed Kate._**

I was working on my engine with my music extremely loud. Once Lydia was home safe and out of the hospital, I had went to bury myself in my work. That's what I was here for to begin with. I wasn't here to chase after werewolves and to kill people. Every night that I went to sleep, the same scene kept replaying in my head. I would be running up the stairs. And everything is kind of like it's on mute. I see Peter holding Kate. And then to my side is Allison crying and saying something, but I don't understand what it is. Then I release the arrow that was in the bow I had in my hands. Kate falls to the ground and I am awoken with the piercing scream of Allison. Derek was right. It was humans that are the monsters. Werewolves could lose control, but that's just it, they lose control. They don't have any say in their actions. Humans however, well we choose to hurt people. I chose to release that arrow, and I had every intention of killing Peter. Instead I killed Kate. And I had scarred a young girl for life.

I looked up and dropped my screwdriver when I saw my baby sister standing in front of me. "You've got to be kidding me. You have been sitting down in this basement for a week straight Jules. It's time to get your ass up and for the sake of all humanity, take a shower."

I bent over and picked up the tools I had dropped or knocked off when she scared me. "Good morning to you as well little sister." I went back to screwing in a piece.

"Morning?" She slammed her hands down on my work bench. "No, my little grease monkey. It is almost night time. I don't know what has got you so out of wack. But I'm here to fix you." She tried to grab the screwdriver out of my hand.

"I'm not a Coldplay song Lydia. And nothing is wrong with me. I just have work that I need to get done. I have to give the engineering board an update on my work by next Tuesday." That wasn't a lie, but is was a plausible excuse for I have been a hermit the past week.

"Well, that's a week away. So, for right now, you can get up. You can go and take a shower and get dressed up. I'm taking you out for dinner." I shook my head at her.

"I've got work to get done Lyds.." She took a picture of me and then handed her phone to me.

"Yes, you do have work to do. You have to work to find the real Julia underneath all of that..." She waived her hand in front of my face and then motioned along the length of my body. "Yeah, I don't even have words for what you are right now. A zombie?" She put her hand to her chin. "No. You're still too pretty to be a zombie. Anyways. You have an hour before I come back by to pick you up." She started walking back up the stairs. And then my phone buzzed. It was a text, from Lydia. And it was the picture she just took of me, with the caption: 'You look like hell. Fix it.'

I sat there and stood at the picture. "You know, I always like it when you looked like a grease monkey. But Lydia is right, you like like hell." I turned to my right and Derek walked out of the shadows of the corner of the basement.

"Are you stalking me now?" I stood up and turned my back to him. I began walking up the stairs. Lydia would get her wish, but only because I didn't want to deal with Derek.

"I'm worried about you Jules. It looks like your sister is too." I reached the top of the stairs and then I turned around to face him.

"That's because my sister has no idea what I did a few weeks ago. Have you already forgotten as well?" I began walking up the second flight of stairs to get to my bathroom.

"Kate wasn't your fault. Her blood is on the hands of my psychotic uncle." He followed me up the stairs. "You can't keep wallowing in your workshop. You're stronger than that."

I grabbed a towel out of the closet and turned to go into my room. "How do you know how strong I am?" I grabbed my robe and then began walking to my bathroom.

"Because I still love you Jules. You know that." I stood in the doorway of my bathroom and stared at him. I knew that he was telling the truth. And we both knew that I loved him too. But that didn't change what has happened. And because of what has happened, I just don't think that I was able to jump back into a relationship with him. Not right now anyways.

"I have to get ready Derek. I'll talk to you later okay?" I shut the door and then I got into the shower and tried to clear my mind.

-000-

Fat lot a good it did me, because when I walked into my room, there stood Derek. "You said you would talk to me later, well it's later." He smirked.

"Are you here for a reason Derek?" I unraveled the towel from my hair and started brushing it out.

"I need your help." I looked up at him. Derek never asked for help. Out of all the years that I had known him, not once had he asked me to help him.

"With what?" I didn't have the heart to tell him that I wasn't going to help him.

"I changed someone a few days ago. And he seems to be having a harder time with it than I had expected. And I don't exactly have a nurturing nature..." I gripped my hairbrush tighter.

"You..changed..someone?" I sat there, silent, for quite a few minutes. "Derek, why did you change someone. Who did you change. A father? A young boy with a future?"

Derek ground his teeth. "He was a teenage boy who was getting beat on a daily basis with his father. And I didn't just turn him, I offered the bite and he took it."

"You can't just go around turning people whenever you please Derek. It's not right." I saw the frustration build up inside of him.

"I didn't come here to get a lecture. Are you going to help me or not?" Derek crossed his arms.

I turned back to my mirror. "Not." I saw the shock on Derek's face. "I can't be an advocate for teen wolves Derek. They are just kids."

"They are kids that need help and have no real family. And I offer that help. I haven't forced anyone to take the bite." Derek defended himself.

"How many do you plan on turning?" I turned around in my seat to look at him.

"Enough for a pack." I felt my eyes get wider. "I'm an alpha now Jules. I have to have a pack. Lone wolves never survive." And I knew that was the truth.

"It still doesn't make it right Derek." I looked at my phone and a saw a text from Lydia.

**Twenty minutes!**

"Look Derek, I have to get ready. Lydia is going to be here in a few minutes and I have still have to find a dress or she'll kill me." Derek walked to my closet and pulled out a dark green dress and then my black heels.

"This is one of my favorites. It'll be perfect. Wear it." He started walking out of my door, but then stopped and looked at me before he left completely. "And please just think about what I've said. Isaac needs someone to trust. He trusts me because he doesn't have a choice. But I feel like you would be a good influence in his life." Derek disappeared out my door and a few seconds later I heard my front door shut.

-000-

I had put on my heels and dress and pulled my hair to the side and just let my curls hang loose. I heard Lydia honk her horn and I walked out of my front door.

When I got into Lydia's car, she smiled brightly at me. "Now you look like my sister. I hope you are prepared for this night that I have in store for us." She smirked.

* * *

The next morning I had a message on my phone from the sheriff.

_Good morning Miss Martin,_

_I have tried to contact your parents but it seems that they are unavailable. I was just wanting to check on Lydia. If you could come into the station that would be wonderful. Have a wonderful day ma'am._

Of course my parents wouldn't answer. Lydia has practically been raising herself since I left for college. It was rather pathetic. I got up and and changed my clothes. I needed to go and get some groceries, and probably go for a run as well. But apparently I had to go and get this taken care of.

I grabbed my keys and walked out of my house and in to my car.

When I arrived at the police department I felt like a bee in a beehive. There was people everywhere and people answering phones all over the place.

I found the sheriff and walked up to him. But there was a guy already conversing wit him though. A rather tall guy at that. I peeked around his shoulder and gave a small waive at the sheriff.

"One minute Ms. Martin." He turned back to the guy. "If we have any leads on Isaac, then I can assure you that we will contact you." The guy didn't look angry, but he did wear an expression of extreme worry.

"I just need to find my brother. He doesn't have anyone else." I just noticed that he was in uniform. And it looked like he was army, but with the way he was decorated, he had to be special forces. He turned to me and nodded his head. "Ma'am." He walked off and I couldn't help but to stare. It was something with the way that he carried himself, strong and graceful at the same time.

I turned back to Sheriff Stilinski after the guy had went through the doors. "That was Camden Lahey. Isaac's brother." Isaac...Isaac...

Derek. Derek mentioned that the boy he was talking about was Isaac. I looked up at Mr. Stilinsky. "Lydia is doing great. And I really appreciate you wanting to check in on her. Is there anything else that you needed?" I knew I needed to go and find Derek. Isaac was being searched for and if he had him in hiding, then he needed to at least let him know he had family that cared.

"No ma'am. I would like updates on Lydia's recovery though. I know that she means an awful lot to my son and with her being the same age as Stiles. I take a special interest in making sure she stays safe." I could completely understand that.

"I'll keep you informed then. I appreciate your concern." I gave him a small smile and then I headed out of the police department.

I pulled out my cellphone and called Derek.

_Hey. We need to talk. Meet me in the woods in thirty minutes. I assume you can still find me._

I hung up the phone and drove out to his old house. I grabbed the bow and some arrows, and then a gun out of the back of my trunk. Target practice seemed like a good idea. Lydia was right, and so was Derek. After speaking to the sheriff this morning, I came to the realization that I was the only one who could really protect Lydia. I couldn't tell her what all was really going on in Beacon Hills. But since I knew the truth. It was up to me to keep her safe.

I began walking down the the hill to my little drop off cubby hole that I like to test my weapons at. I set up a paper target on one of the trees. I pulled out one of my new guns. I re-calibrated it and I needed to make sure the sights were all still accurate.

Then I pulled out my bow and shot a few arrows. And they all aligned in one line on the tree. I through a knife at a tree behind me and then I had another knife in my hand and ready to throw but was caught off guard by a set of hands clapping.

"Not bad." I turned to the top of the hill and saw the guy from earlier at the police station. Isaac's brother. "Really. I'm impressed." He walked down the hill and pulled one of my arrows out of the tree. He inspected the tip and then looked back up to me. "Did you make these?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

I nodded my head and then he began walking over to me. His eyes took in my bow and I could tell he was impressed yet again. "I didn't make the bow, but I made all the gadgets on it." He picked up the bow and drew it back.

"I'm sorry, don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" It wasn't an useless question. I knew that he was Isaac's brother. But I couldn't tell him that, because then he would ask how I knew Isaac. And I didn't really know Isaac either, but I did know that he was with Derek. And I couldn't lead anyone to where Derek was, especially if I didn't know who they were.

He turned back to me, and lowered the string back to it's resting place. He stuck out his hand. "Camden Lahey." He gave me a polite smile, but I could tell it didn't really reach his eyes. Just like a soldier.

And then I took in his clothes. A plain white t-shirt and jeans. Very simple. Our handshake was gentle and firm. Oddly enough, it was firm on my end, but gentle on his. I couldn't stop looking at his eyes though. They were extremely captivating, as was he.

"Do I get a name as well?" He raised his eyebrows slightly.

I let go of his hand and gave a small smile. "Julie. Martin. My name is Julie Martin." He gave me a look like he was committing my appearance to memory.

"Well, Ms. Martin, do you mind if I give you a few pointers?" He looked at me and this time I raised my eyebrows. He nodded to the throwing knife in my hand. "While I was in Iraq, we had competitions almost weekly." He looked down and smiled, I assumed it was at a memory of sorts. "Competition is inevitable when your company is mainly men, right?" That caused me to chuckle slightly. He held the knife differently than I have every seen before in his hand by the tip. "I always liked throwing knives, darts, or anything of the sort. And I couldn't seem to beat Arwig." He looked back up to me. I couldn't take my eyes off of him. I was completely invested in his story.

"Who's Arwig?" He dropped his head again, and then when he looked back up, he pursed his lips.

"How should I describe Arwig..." His expression resembled that of a lit light bulb. "A pompous ass." I let out laughter at that point and he smiled. And this time, for only a glimpse it seemed, his smile reached his eyes. "Please forgive the language." He seemed to be sincere, which was an odd thing in today's world. To be apologizing for fowl language.

"Please, you haven't seen bad language until you have went to a Yankees v. Red Sox game." He seemed intrigued by my interest in baseball. "But please, finish your story." I gestured for him to continue.

"Right. Arwig. Well, I just couldn't seem to beat him. The way we would measure the winner was not just on accuracy, but the power of the throw as well. The strength of the soldier." How would you do that? Test the speed at which it was thrown?

Before I could ask my question, he threw the knife. The sound of impact was loud and crackling. I literally heard the tree crack. He began walking over to the tree. His knife landed right above mine. The only difference between the two, was the fact that his was about two inches deeper than mine.

"You measured he depth of impact..." I reached over and pulled my knife out.

"You're a quick learner." He pulled his knife out and I began walking back to my throwing distance.

"Thank you." I gave him an appreciative smile. "How did you figure out how to throw it that hard?" I tried to copy the way that he had held the knife.

He came behind me and rested his hand on top of mine. I turned around and his face was only a few breaths away from my own. "May I?" I could only nod. He twisted and bent my fingers into to position. Then he stepped aside, only slightly. "And I didn't figure it out. A friend had taught me." Now he placed his fingers on my wrist. "When you throw, you must not flick your wrist, but roll your wrist." He stepped aside again and aimed his knife and threw it. "Just as I did."

I squared my stance back up and mimicked his actions. My knife hit and I immediately went to the tree to see how far it went it. It only moved in deeper by maybe a centimeter. Camden's however, I believe went deeper this time. He pulled both knives out and handed them to me.

"Your friend must have been very strong." He gave a secretive smile.

He nodded his head. "Yes ma'am. She was." My face turned up in a pleasantly surprised smile.

"She?"

Camden leaned in closer. "I've learned to never underestimate the power of a woman." I put my knives back in my boots.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing out here in the woods?" His whole expression changed in an instance.

"I'm looking for someone." His words were very vague. And I was most interested as to why he was wanting to find Isaac so badly.

"Someone of importance?" I prompted him to tell me further information.

He looked up at me with ghosts in his place of his eyes. "My brother. He...he doesn't exactly know that I am back. And I know that he sometimes like to take walks in the woods. So, I came out here to find him but instead I found..."

"Me." I finished for him. "A girl that probably appears crazy, with all these weapons."

"A girl that is obviously strong and talented." He corrected me. "And as pleasant as this has been, I really must be going. I've still have a lot of ground to cover. It was a pleasure meeting you Julie Martin."

He started walking off. "Camden!" I caught his attention and he turned back around. "Your brother? It's Isaac right?" He seemed surprised that I knew that. "He plays Lacrosse with my sister's boyfriend." Or rather exboyfriend, but that's just a technicality. "He's a good kid. If I see him, I'll tell him that you are looking for him." He didn't say anything, he just nodded and continued walking away.

* * *

It was probably half an hour later when I went over to Derek's little warehouse hide out. I didn't even bother calling to let him know I was coming. I had figured he would find me in the woods, but he never did.

"Derek Hale. Get your werewolf ass out here!" I heard a small movement from the back right corner of the warehouse. "Derek, you can't hide from me." I began walking over to where I had heard the noise.

Isaac stood up and his eyes were glowing. He bared his fangs and crouched down. I jumped slightly, but then I remembered what Derek taught me. I squared up, not in a defense way or attacking way, but more in a you-can't-phase-me way.

"You must be Isaac. Hi, I'm Julie. Derek's...friend." I find it weird to call him my ex, but he most certainly wasn't my boyfriend. So, I wasn't sure what to call him. But I did at least know that we were friends. So I went with that.

Isaac cocked his head to the side. He seemed to be weighing on how true my words were. I knew he would be able to tell that I was telling the truth.

"You look mad though. If you are a friend of his, then why are you mad?" He dropped his wolf features, no more claws or teeth.

"Because he lied to me. I don't like being lied to." Isaac gave me a small nod.

"I didn't lie about anything." I turned around Derek was perched atop an old beaten down school bus.

"Have you been there the whole time?" He jumped down, and of course landed on his feet.

"I wanted to see how you and Isaac interacted." He shrugged his shoulders. "Now what did I lie about exactly?" He was now a foot away from me and he had his arms crossed.

"You told me that this boy had no family." I pointed to Isaac, who dropped his head at the mention of his family.

"I don't." He spoke quietly. I turned back to Derek though.

"His dad died two days ago." Oh my goodness.

I turned to Isaac and gave him a sad look. "I'm so sorry. I had no idea.." Isaac and Derek both looked at me like I was a wild animal. "What?"

"Where have you been the past week?" Derek asked.

"In my basement. Working. Why?" I looked between them.

"I'm a fugitive. The police think that I killed my own father.." Isaac's voice trailed off. That's why Camden was so adamant on finding him and why he was at the police station.

I turned to Derek. "As unfortunate as that is about his dad. That doesn't change the fact that you lied to me. He still has family." I saw the surprise in his eyes.

"No I don't. All of my family is dead. And it's not unfortunate. He deserved to die. He was a horrible person. He didn't love anyone, especially not me." I could see the ghosts of a little boy in his eyes. He was a very sad boy. I don't know what his father did to him, but it surely scarred him. Maybe that's why Derek wanted me to come and talk to him. He seemed lost. Derek's own personal Lost Boy. Which would make Derek Peter Pan, and I would be Wendy.

I turned and faced Isaac. All of his family couldn't be dead. I had just had a full conversation with a guy that claimed to be his brother. And now that I looked at Isaac, they had some of the same features. Not many, but some. "But when I was at the police station earlier, I saw your brother. And then I ran into him again in the woods. He said that he had been looking for you. His name was Camden. Was he not your brother?" Oh no, I hadn't thought about Camden possibly being a hunter. But then, when I thought back on it. He didn't seem like a hunter. He seemed genuine.

"You ran into him in the woods? What kind of creep wanders around in the woods?" Derek blurted out before Isaac had a chance to answer.

I threw my hands up at Derek. "You've got to be kidding me. 'What kind of creep wanders around in the woods'." I tried to mimic his voice. "Derek. You wander around in the woods. And he isn't a creep. I found him to be...pleasant." It took me a moment to find the right word. I settled on pleasant. It seemed to fit accurately.

"Pleasant? What is that supposed to mean?" I shook my head at him. And right when I opened my mouth to say something, I noticed that Isaac was standing eerily still, deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" I spoke softly.

Isaac looked up at Derek. "Camden is brother." Derek looked at him like he stupid. I had just said that. "My dead brother. Soldiers came to our door and told me and my dad that Cam had died in battle." I looked up to Derek and my eyes got a little wider. Isaac's eyes glossed over, as if he was recalling the memory of the day.

"I can very much assure you that your brother is alive Isaac. Maybe there was a mistake?" I offered that as a reason for why Camden wasn't actually dead.

"He can't find me. You won't let him find me will you? He'll think I'm a monster." It was clear that Isaac didn't think his brother would love him anymore if he found out what he was.

"I promise I won't tell him where you are at. We'll get this figured out. Okay, Isaac? I promise." I stared at where Derek was standing, on the phone with someone.

As much as I didn't want to be pulled back into Derek's world. I knew now that I had no choice but to be here. For Isaac's sake and for Lydia. They both needed me now.

* * *

**Hey guys! I am so terribly sorry that it took so long to get an update up. But here it is, and I can assure you that they will be coming much more frequently now. I hope you all have enjoyed reading this chapter. I would appreciate it, more than you can know, if you would take a few minutes and leave a review. Let us know any comments, questions, or suggestions you have. This story is for you guys, and your wishes will be respected. **

**Thank you so much for all the support. Much love to you all! **


	8. Chapter 8

"Soo...what does this do?" I looked up at Isaac, who was now holding one of my wolfs bane grenades. I looked up at him through my glasses.

Derek yanked the grenade out of his hand and I smiled when Isaac looked him appallingly. "Don't touch stuff."

Isaac looked at me, waiting for me to either answer his question or take up for him. "It's a wolfs bane grenade." Isaac started to rub his hands on his jeans.

He walked over to my wall of arrows. "And each one of these does something different?" He started to poke the tips of them and I rushed over to him.

Derek grabbed his hand before I reached him. "I said...no touching." Derek gave him a deadly look.

"Some of those tips are laced with wolfs bane." I explained to Isaac and he drew his hand back.

"You make all of this yourself?" He looked around my basement in a sense of astonishment. I smiled as I followed him in staring at my little workshop.

"Each and every one." I smiled proudly at all of my work.

"It's all really amazing. I mean, other than the fact that they are meant to kill me. But to be able to create weapons like this, that's really cool." He looked over at me, and I glanced at Derek.

"I can teach you." I offered up. I half expected Derek to object and tell me that he wasn't my responsibility, but when I looked over at him, he seemed proud.

Isaac's eyes lit up. Then they fell within an instant. "You don't have to do that. I mean, I used to build stuff with my dad all the time, but I...I just always screwed stuff up. So, I would just be in your way." He scratched the back of his neck and I smiled reassuringly at him.

"I dated this one for three years. And we were partners for most of engineering school. You can't screw up any more than he did." Derek's face scrunched up.

"I did not screw up. You were just a perfectionist and what I did was never good enough." I shook my head.

"No. You're right. You didn't screw up. You just screwed in general." I raised an eyebrow at him.

He bit his lip before speaking. "I haven't done that in a long time and you know that. As soon as you showed interest in being with me, I dropped any and all other girls."

"You did." I agreed with him and I saw a bit of weight lift from his shoulders.

"Not that I mean to break up this obvious love fest, but what is the plan for my brother?" Derek and I shared a worried look.

"If he really is back, then there has to be a reason right? You said that you thought he was dead. And obviously he isn't. Because he was hitting on Jules yesterday." Derek added the last bit with a touch of venom.

"He was not hitting on me. He was showing me how to properly throw my knives." I corrected him and then I shot him a warning look.

"Well, I think that you need to talk to him. He must like you because my brother has always been very wary of who he talks to. So, you would be the best person to talk to him and find out what happened to him. How he isn't dead and what he is doing here." I saw Derek grinding his teeth at the comment that Camden must like me.

"I can try my best to find him. I didn't get his number the last time we talked. But he's clearly here for you. That's all that was on his mind, was finding you." I looked at Isaac with a sympathetic look. I honestly thought that he should just go to his brother, but I understood. Isaac was a werewolf now, and not to mention a fugitive. That's not exactly something you can discuss at a welcoming home party.

I wanted to talk to Derek for a few minutes so I looked over at Isaac and gave him my sweetest smile. "Do you mind going up stairs and getting me a vitamin water from the fridge? And you're welcome to anything in there yourself." He nodded his head once and began walking up the stairs.

The minute I heard the basement door shut, I looked at Derek. "Camden is all he has left in this world Derek. Is it really fair that we are keeping them apart?"

Derek set down the knife he had been playing with. "It might not be fair, but it's the only choice we have right now. Isaac is wanted for his dad's death. We can't really risk letting him be out in the open right now. We keep him laying low." He must have noticed my sad expression, because then he added. "For right now."

I grabbed a rag and started wiping my hands off. "I better go change into some man hunting clothes." I smirked at him, but I didn't see any joking in his eyes.

"I don't like you being the one to have to scope out Isaac's brother." He spoke to the floor instead of looking at me.

"Well, unfortunately for you. It doesn't matter if you are okay with it or not. It's needs to get done." I gave a small shrug of my shoulders.

"It's just that, what do we know about the guy?" Derek started with another question.

"Nothing." I said simply. I walked over and threw the rag in my rag hamper. When I turned back to face Derek, he was looking at me with an 'exactly' expression. "That's why I'm going to talk to him. Because we know nothing." I felt like I was pointing out the obvious.

"Well, just be careful okay?" I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

"I'm always careful Der." I gave him a reassuring smile. And then Isaac was coming back down the stairs with our vitamin water.

He handed me a bottle of it and smiled. "I like your house. Very nice. Much less creepy than the old warehouse that Derek stays at." He gave a small sideways glance at Derek. Probably waiting for him to yell at him. Even though Isaac had all the confidence from the bite, I still saw the ghost of his dad in his eyes.

"It's actually kind of big for just one person..." Derek started shaking his head before I couldn't even finish my thought.

"No." Isaac looked between us and then grabbed his bag.

"I think that I am just going to go and take a shower. If you don't mind me using your bathroom?" He turned to me now.

"Of course not!" I motioned for him to go back upstairs.

The second he was out of ear shot Derek turned on me.

"You're not inviting him to live with you." He cut me off before I could even get my side of the argument in.

"He needs somewhere to go... I've seen that warehouse. It's not suitable for a teenage boy Derek." I raised an eyebrow at him. I knew that he couldn't argue that point with me.

"Exactly he's a teenage boy. He doesn't need to be looked after. He's nearly seventeen. He can take care of himself." Derek argued.

"Take care of his self? No. He needs some kind of loving figure in his life. You wanted me to help. You actually came here and begged me to help you with your new little werewolves. And now that I am finally taking an interest you want to tell me no? Do you actually care about these kids at all?" I countered him and challenged him.

He stood up, real tall, and looked down at me. "I care very much. Especially who I put in my pack. And in fact, I'm going to go and check on Scott at the school. Make sure that there's nothing wrong there." He picked up his jacket and threw it on.

"Scott's not part of your pack. But if you feel the need to prove me wrong that badly, then go right on head." I gestured towards my stairs.

"I will." Derek said in a final tone. I waited for both the basement door and the front door to shut before I walked up the stairs.

I found Isaac drinking a sip of water from a glass. He had already changed and his hair was still slightly damp. "You bring your clothes and bags and stuff here. You are sleeping upstairs in one of my extra bedrooms until you give me a reason to kick you out."

Isaac started to argue but I threw my hand up. "Let me remind you that I dated Derek. And he hardly ever won an argument with me. So, if has problems saying no to me, then you can bet your bottom dollar that you will not. Go and do as I say. The extra key is under the third rock from the rose bush." Isaac put down his glass and started walking to the door.

When I thought he was going to walk right by me, he stopped and wrapped me up in a tight hug. "Thank you." He said.

He pulled back and raised an eyebrow. "What do I tell Derek?"

"Not a damn thing. I'll handle it. And if he does ask, then you tell him that you are following my orders. And if he thinks he is brave enough to challenge me then he can come here himself and do so." I spoke with confidence and I saw Isaac smile.

"I never thought that I would meet a person who wasn't afraid of Derek." He spoke honestly, I could tell.

"Derek is nothing but a huge puppy. " I waived him off. He laughed before he exited the door for his run.

~000~

I was trying to figure out which shirt to go with. If I was going to get Camden to give me his number, then I didn't want to seem uninterested. But then again, I didn't need to seem too interested because then he would think I want to date him. And I need to get him to basically spill his guts. So I needed him to trust me. Goodness, I felt like Lydia.

My attention was averted to my vibrating cell phone in the corner on my desk. I picked it up as soon as I saw the name on the screen.

"Dark blue with a bow around the waist. Or black slouchy shoulder?"

"What?" Derek was clearly caught off guard.

"A shirt. I need help deciding on a shirt." I put the phone of speaker and set it back down on the bed as I held both shirts up again.

"The black one. You hate bows." I smiled to myself more than anything. He was right. I hated bows. But Lydia insists that I wear them. "Jules."

"Yes?" I hung the blue shirt back up in the closet and went to go and pull on the black one.

"I need your help." I slid the last bit of the shirt down and then looked at my phone.

"That's the second time in a week. Are you feeling aren't Derek?" I joked, but when I didn't hear him chuckle on the other end I knew that he was being serious.

I picked up my phone and took it off speaker phone. "What's wrong?" All the joking now out of my voice.

"How fast can you get to the hospital?" The hospital? "I need you to help me sneak someone out." He finally admitted.

And that's when I knew that everything was okay and no one was hurt. "You changed another one didn't you?"

The silence on the other end was all the affirmation that I needed. "Will you help me?"

I sighed as I reached for my boots. "I'll be there in ten minutes. Hang tight." I hung up the phone.

I grabbed my keys and walked out the door.

I knew that I shouldn't help him. I should just let him deal with it himself. It's his pack, not mine. His problems. But when I thought of Derek trying to handle a few teenagers all on his own I felt bad. That's a rough job on anyone. I might not be dating Derek anymore, but he still meant a lot to me. And for the past few years he had been my best friend. And I couldn't let my best friend struggle, knowing that I could help. I just couldn't.

I pulled up into the hospital parking lot.

I looked down at the text that Derek had sent me on the way here.

**Third floor. Left wing. I'll find you.**

I got out of my car and walked in. As soon as I walked through the doors, the memory of rushing here to see Lydia flooded my entire being. She had been lying on the hospital bed, completely unconscious. And there wasn't a single thing I could do for her. Peter had attacked her.

Peter. Derek's evil uncle. I had meant to kill him. The arrow was supposed to pierce through his heart. But then he put Kate in the way of it. And I killed her.

I killed Allison's aunt. And I had still not faced Allison. I didn't have the courage. What was I supposed to say, 'I'm sorry for murdering your aunt. But she was a murderer herself, so it's all good. Right?'

No. There would be nothing that I could say to make what I did okay.

"Jules!" Derek had appeared out of nowhere and was now standing right in front of me. His hands were on my shoulders and based on the looks from the people around us, he had probably been trying to get my attention for a while.

We were standing in the front lobby. I hadn't even made it to the elevator to get to the third floor. I looked up at Derek and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I was thinking about...well, it doesn't matter. How did you know I was here?" He was supposed to be on the third floor waiting on me.

"I heard your heartbeat. And then it started to race, so I thought you were in trouble." He had a concerned look on his face. "You were thinking about Kate weren't you?" He phrased it like a question, but his tone let me know that he knew that I was.

I shook off his question and the thought of Kate. "Where's your new were child at?" I raised my eyebrows at him. He took my hand and started to lead me down a hallway.

He opened a door to a darkened room and rolled out a stretcher with a girl on it. I looked in the hallway and checked to see if anyone was watching. I turned back and saw that the girl was fully dressed. That was a relief. It would have been kind of hard to get a girl out of a hospital if she was still in the gown. I turned back to the hallway and found a wheel chair.

I went to go and grab it. Derek looked at me confused. "Well, you can't roll her out on a stretcher. If she is in a wheelchair, then they'll think she is a patient and had just been released." His shoulders relaxed a little at the realization of the accuracy of my words.

He lifted her in his arms like she was light as a feather and placed her down gently. I dug around in my purse until I found my sunglasses. I placed them on her head and then I moved her hand to where it was propping her head up.

"There. Now she looks like she has a terrible headache. Instead of a girl was bitten by a werewolf and is now undergoing the change into one herself." I smiled proudly at my work.

Derek smiled over at me. "Alright, now let's get her out of here." He started to go and push her. I grabbed her hand and held it. We had to sell the full picture right?

We were approaching the front lobby desk and that's when I saw him. At first it was just his broad shoulders that caught my attention, but then I saw his slightly curly hair. And then he had turned at an angle that I could see his very defined bone structure in his face.

"Isaac Lahey. Yes ma'am, that's correct. Oh, I'm his brother." Camden was speaking to a nurse who was furiously clicking away on her computer.

"That's Camden." I whispered to Derek. I let go of Erica's hand and nodded to Derek. "You get her out of here. I'm going to go and talk to Camden." Who wasn't looking too bad today. He was once again in jeans and just a plain colored shirt. Only this time is was a blue color, and it made his eyes even more radiant. He saw me and a small smile formed on his lips.

"Julie Martin." He spoke with that small smile still playing around his lips.

Derek finished rolling Erica out of the hospital and I walked up to Camden. "I must say, the hospital was the last place I expected to run into you again."

He cocked his head slightly to the side. "And were you expecting to run into me again?"

"Well, it's a small town. People tend to see each other often." I gave him a small shrug and the nurse grabbed his attention away.

"Mr. Lahey." Camden turned to face her. "It seems as if your brother was in here four times in the past two months. Twice for falling down the stairs, and then four were 'work related' accidents. Unfortunately I can't give you the information on those due to the company confidentiality clause. But I can print you out his file for what we do have. As long as you have the papers showing me that you are now his legal guardian." The nurse looked up at him, and when Camden turned his eyes away to pull out a paper from his wallet, you could see her admire his good looks.

"Is this the right form ma'am? Those city people gave me a ton of different papers." Camden seemed a little preoccupied and I figured that this was probably a bad time to try and talk to him. So I quietly slipped away and started walking towards the door.

I had almost reached my car when I heard my name being shouted. "Julie!" I turned around and saw Camden jogging up towards me. He narrowed his eyes at me in confusion. "I turned around and you were gone."

"You just seemed a little busy. And I didn't want to bother you..." I offered that up as an excuse and it seemed to have worked.

He dropped his head and then looked back up at me. He had a disappointed look on his face now. "I'm just still trying to find Isaac. I was here, hoping that maybe his medical record could give me a lead. I don't know. It's like he fell of the face of the earth. How does a teenage boy do that?" By being bitten by an alpha. But I couldn't tell him that.

"So I take it your last few days back home haven't been really great then." It was the first thing that came to mind.

"It's just really quiet. I don't know many people in town. And the few that I do know, well they treat me like I am a leper. Probably because of the whole little brother accused of murdering my dad thing. But even that is ridiculous. Isaac could never have done something like that. He's not a murderer." There was such love for Isaac in his eyes. And I personally knew that Isaac didn't kill their father.

"Well, my sister is the town freak. So, I can sort of relate." Ever since they had found Lydia roaming through the woods naked. Everyone in town had been treating her like a one woman circus show. That even included our parents.

He looked at me like he had an idea, then he glanced back at the hospital. "I...a...I really need to get back in there. I have to get Isaac's record, and go home and sort out a few more things. Bills and such." He gave me a hopeful look now. "But, I would actually really like to talk to you some more. Can I give you my number?"

Bingo. I smiled at him. "I'd actually really like that." He gave me his number and I punched it into my phone. "And...save." I added his name to the contact and pressed save. "And I'll just text you real quick so you have my number."

I sent him a text that said my name and a smiley face. "I'll give you a call then." He gave me a nice smile. "It was nice seeing you again ma'am."

"You keep showing off that southern charm and you are going to have ladies waiting in line just to swoon over you." I saw him smirk slightly before walking away.

I got into my car and headed back to my apartment.

~000~

I opened up the door and headed straight into the kitchen. I grabbed a vitamin water out, and turned to face my living room. And that's when I nearly choked.

There sat my baby sister on my couch, just staring at a blank television screen. I looked around a little frantically. I hoped she hadn't seen Isaac or noticed that he had been here. I didn't think about that when I told him to stay here this morning.

"Lydia?" She didn't look up at me. So I walked over and sat down next to her on the couch. Her eyes were slightly swollen and I knew she had been crying. I grabbed her hand and her head snapped in my direction.

"Hey Jules." She gave me a smile, but it was empty.

"Hey sweetheart." I kept my voice gentle. I didn't know if she was okay, or if she was having an episode where she wouldn't even remember coming over here later. "What are you doing here?"

She started playing with her keys. "I saw something today." I started rubbing her back softly to urge her to continue speaking.

"What's that?" She just kept turning her car key around and around in her hand.

"I'm not sure." She wiped away the stray tear on her cheek. "Have you ever seen something that you knew wasn't there, but yet it was?" She looked up at me and her eyes were wide. Tears started to silently fall. "I think that I'm going crazy Jules." Her voice sounded broken. Like an empty flower vase knocked of the end table broken.

I pulled her into the encirclement of my arms. "You are not going crazy." I reassured her. But the truth was I had no idea what was going on with her.

She pulled away abruptly and wiped furiously at the face. She pulled out her makeup bag and started fixing herself back up.

"I'm fine. I'm fine." She shrugged. As if whatever tiny meltdown she just had, didn't occur.

There was a knock at the door and I look at her. I know I wasn't expecting anybody to show up. "That's Allison. We're going back to her place to study." She stood up. "Do you mind answering the door? I have to go and freshen up a bit." I did mind actually. Quite a bit. I hadn't seen Allison since that nice Peter died.

She took off to the bathroom, not even giving me a chance to say no. I sighed and took a deep breath. This was something that I needed to do.

I pulled open my front door, and Allison's face was full of surprise. She clearly was not expecting me to answer the door.

"You want to come in?" I moved out of the way of the door.

Allison was switching her weight back and forth between her feet. "No, I'm good thanks." She was trying to be polite, but I wouldn't blame her if she wanted to kill me.

"Umm...Lydia will be down in a minute. She said she had to freshen up." Allison started nodding.

The awkward tension must have gotten the better of her because she pointed back to her car. "I'm just going to go and wait for her in the car."

She started to go down the stairs before I stopped her. "Hey Allison?" She turned around. "I know you hate me. Hell, I hate me. And you have every right to hate me. But I wanted to ask you a favor. "I glanced behind me to make sure Lydia wasn't anywhere around."Can you keep an eye on Lydia? She's not really opening up to me, and you are her best friend. I just want to make sure that she is being cared for." I didn't much care for Allison, but I honestly believed that she cared for Lydia. And right now Lydia needed that.

"I'll look after her." She said softly before heading to her car.

I heard Lydia's heels coming back down the stairs. "Love you sis." She zoomed passed me.

I watched as she got in Allison's car and they drove off. I knew that I had to do something to help out my sister. Something to save her from this world that she was literally tail spinning into. And there was only one person that I trusted to help me with something like that.

~000~

Thirty minutes later I pulled up into the front of Derek's warehouse. His car was there but there was a weird sense around the place.

I opened the front door and looked around the place. "Derek?" There was no noise. None. "Isaac?"

Out of nowhere I was knocked to the ground. I opened my eyes and I saw a furious and wolfed out blonde on top of me. She was holding my by the throat and I could feel her nails pressing into my skin.

"Let me guess...Derek said he'd call and he didn't?" She grinned. "Well, that probably means he isn't interested sweetheart." She winked. "But don't worry; you look like a real nice girl. I'm sure you'll find someone." She cooed.

I narrowed my eyes at her. I was trying to wiggle free enough to get my knife I had stashed in my boot. I guess I would need to start bringing in weapons every time I come here. This was the second time I was attacked by one of Derek's wolves.

I finally got my knife and I was able to stab it in her side. She screamed in pain and then growled out in rage. She tightened her grip on my throat.

"Let her go Erica." Isaac's voice came from my left.

"You know her?" She turned to look at him.

"Yes, I know her. She's cool. Let her up." Erica looked down at me and smiled.

"She's not that pretty. I imagine Derek goes after prettier girls." Erica was having fun, and when I got out of this, I planned on hitting her.

"She's practically one of us Erica. Trust me; you don't want to hurt her. Derek wouldn't like it." Isaac warned her.

Erica squeezed real tight and then she reluctantly let me up. I stood up and she turned to Isaac. When she turned back around, I punched her square in the nose.

"You bitch!" She expressed rather loudly.

Isaac rushed to hold her back. And I smiled at her. "If you ever lay your hands on me again, a punch is the last thing you will have to worry about."

"Well, I must admit. I had always dreamed you fighting over me with another girl. But I never thought that it would be another werewolf." Derek appeared out of nowhere.

"Where the hell have you been? She had me pinned down like some animal for nearly ten minutes." I spoke hatefully.

He put up his hands in defense. "I didn't tell her to do that. But at least I know she's loyal." He smiled.

"Next time I injure her. I mean that Derek." He nodded because he knew that I was telling the truth. "Can we speak alone please?"

Derek looked to Isaac and Erica. Isaac obeyed and started to walk away but Erica stayed. "Is this your girlfriend or something?"

Derek looked up to me. Letting me give myself my own label. "I'm his ex. But I know how to kill a werewolf, and I have more weapons than you can possibly imagine. So, I don't advise you messing with me anymore." I narrowed my eyes at her and she dropped her head. She walked off the same direction that Isaac went.

Once they were gone, I looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"What?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you like keeping around killer Barbie?" He chuckled at my nickname for Erica.

"You are extremely worked up. What's wrong?" He now looked concerned.

"Lydia. She's...she's not okay Derek." I looked back up to him. "Whatever it was that Peter did to her. It really messed her up."

"He bit her Jules. And she didn't change." Derek said it like it was that simple.

"Exactly. She didn't change. Why didn't she change? You once told me that the bite either saves you or kills you. All it has done is turn her into a crazy person."

"What are you saying Jules?" Derek sounded a little tired.

"What if Peter didn't want to change her? He was smart Derek. He was very smart. What if he was using her for something?" I knew that it sounded crazy, but girls like Lydia don't go crazy like this. She has no mental illness.

"Jules..."

"Don't do that. Don't you dare do that." Tears stung my eyes at this point. "I know how I sound. Trust me. But there is no scientific reasoning for how Lydia has been acting. If it's not scientific, then I've learned that it is probably supernatural. She was bit, and she didn't change. It was like nothing happened. That's not normal. Not even in your world." Derek was silent. He knew I was right. He just didn't know what to say.

We sat there staring at each other. And then we both jumped when my phone started ringing. I saw Camden's name on the screen and I cleared my throat before I answered.

_"Is it too soon to call?" _I looked up to Derek. I knew that he could hear everything that Camden was about to say.

_"Not at all." _I smiled into the phone. _"What's up?"_

_"I was just wondering if you wanted to grab lunch tomorrow." _I looked up at Derek. There was no expression on his face, not a readable one anyways. _"Was that too forward?"_ I refocused my attention on the phone call.

_"No. No of course not. I'd love to have lunch tomorrow." _I turned my back to Derek. Even though we weren't together, I didn't know quite what we were; it still felt weird to making plans with another guy, in front of him.

_"Great. So, I'll pick you up at 12:30?"_

_"Sounds great. I'll see you then." _I hung up the phone and turned around.

"So it looks like you have yourself a hot date then." Derek said bitterly.

"Jealous?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Of a soldier? Please." I let out short laugh and began to walk past him.

"You could be honest. Just this once." He grabbed my wrist and spun me into him. His face was so close to mine that I could feel his breath on my cheek.

"Of course I'm jealous. But the truth is that I am pretty positive that he can't get your blood boiling the way that I can." He leaned in even further. He wrapped his hands around my hips. His lips were at my ears. "And I'm pretty sure he can't make your heart race by just holding you like this." I wanted to kick myself. He was right, and I hated that he was right.

I pushed him away from me, and mentally shook off what just happened.

"You may keep running away from me, but eventually you'll come back. I know you will." I turned around and began walking out of the warehouse.

Isaac was waiting outside of my car. "Is that offer to stay at your place still available?"

I gave him a friendly smile. "Of course. Hop in." I nodded to my car.

~000~

I woke up the next morning to a gosh awful noise. It was like something was doing construction, but in my house. I pulled on my robe and jogged down the stairs. I saw Lydia in the kitchen. I turned around abruptly and glanced at the staircase. Isaac was standing there.

I put my finger to my lips to signal him to be quiet. He just sat down.

I turned back to Lydia. "What are you doing?"

"Making breakfast smoothies." She said in a chipper voice. "Go upstairs and change. I'll finish breakfast."

I turned around and motioned for Isaac to follow me.

I went into my room and shut the door. "You're supposed to be meeting my brother today right?" I looked at the clock.

"It's 11:00!" I went to get a towel. I turned back to Isaac.

"Yeah. He's picking me up in an hour and a half. But you have to stay hidden. Lydian can't know you're here. and Camden sure as hell can't know." I pointed to him.

"I'm good at staying invisible. No worries." He smiled at me.

~000~

I took a shower and then rushed through eating breakfast.

"Slow down. You'll choke." Lydia said.

"I'm sorry I just have to get ready." I said as I stood up.

"For what?" I rushed up the stairs and got dressed.

Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang. I heard Lydia go and answer it.

"Jules! There's a super hot guy at the door for you!" I pulled on my leather jacket and boots and jogged down the stairs. Lydia just shook her head at me. "I tell you that there is a super hot guy at the door, so you pull on boots and a leather jacket.

"Hey Camden." I smiled at him.

"You're wearing dog tags... Army?" Lydia asked.

"Special Forces." He corrected her.

"Impressive. I already like him better than the douche." Lydia smiled at me.

"You ready to go?" I looked at Camden.

He held up his keys. "Sure thing."

-000-

The date was going very well. Camden was able to make me smile with nearly everything that he said. We had decided to go to a pizza shop.

"So, I have a question."

"What's that?"

"I heard some rumors..." He looked at me with amused eyes. "That you came back from the dead. Quite literally."

Camden took a sip from his drink before looking back at me. "Well, that rumor is true. One of the very few rumors that is probably true."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Do I get to know how you managed to do that?"

"Do I get to know who the guy was that your sister was talking about earlier?" He challenged me.

"If you tell me your story, I'll tell you mine." I made a deal with him.

My phone started ringing and I saw that it was Jackson. Even since his break up with Lydia, he had rarely spoken to me. So that means that it must be important.

"I'm sorry, but I should really answer this. It won't take but I minute." I stood up and walked outside and answered the phone.

_"Jules. Jules you there?" _He sounded frantic.

_"Jackson, calm down sweetie. What's wrong?" _His breathing was labored.

_"The hunters. They're serious. They have all these guns, and big guys. I mean big big guys Jules. They told me that I needed to stop messing around with the werewolves. And I think they were dead serious." _I had never heard Jackson ramble like that before. Never.

_"Jackson, breathe. What did they say to you?" _He seemed scared.

_"That I should get out. And you should too Jules. I think they will hurt you. I think they wouldn't think twice about it. I don't want to see you get hurt Julie. Please." _His voice was even more frantic now.

_"I'll be over in a while okay? We'll talk then." _I hung up the phone.

When I looked back in the restaurant, Camden was gone. Damn.

**I got a phone call from someone saying they saw Isaac. I am terribly sorry for leaving you like this. I hope you'll forgive me.**

**-C**

I grabbed up the note and sighed. I was so close and now I am so far away.

I got in my car and headed out to go and try and calm down Jackson. Jackson was like a younger brother to me, and I'll be damned if I let a bunch of over grown apes scare him this badly.

**Hey guys! AlphaGamJen here! I just wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate all of your feedback! And even if you don't review, thanks for reading! This started out as a little idea in my head, that grew to a big idea, and then with the help of my lovely writing partner we made it a reality. Even though we post through Mkay's acct I still read all of your reviews! Keep us posted on what you're thinking and let us know what you want! Feel free to PM me! Love you all 3**

_**So that was a little note from my collaboration partner! I am terribly sorry it took longer to update this time. But the important thing is that I got an update out right? I hope you guys liked the update and please leave us a review. We love hearing from each and everyone of you! I hope you guys are having a lovely evening.**_

_**Much Love,**_

_**-Makayla**_

_P.S. We also would like for you guys to know that the face claim for Camden Lahey is Derek Theler. He's the big brother from baby daddy. If you don't know who he is, then you seriously need to google him. You won't regret it._

_And the face claim for Julie Martin is Kate Mara. We thought that both her hair and body frame fit perfectly to be Lydia's sister. _


	9. Chapter 9

_**Flashback**_

_"Okay so since it was my turn to pick movies, you can't complain." I warned Derek before I climbed back on my bed. I dumped the handful of movies out on the bed and watched as Derek gave up a small smile._

_"The Wolfman, Bad Moon, Silver Bullet, Skinwalkers, and Red Riding Hood." He looked back up at me. "All of these movies are about the same thing." He pointed out._

_"Maybe, but they are all different genres." I defended my choice in movies._

_"They are all about werewolves!" His voice had a slight joking manner, but I wasn't backing down. I wanted to watch one of these particular movies, and I was going to watch one. "Isn't dating one enough for you?"_

_I leaned over and picked up Skinwalkers. "I personally want to watch this one." I held it with a bright and encouraging smile._

_Derek leaned his head back and sighed. "Have it your way then." I made a small sound of joy as I hopped off the bed to put the movie in._

_I turned back to the bed, grabbed the remote, and saw that Derek had his left arm open and ready for me to cuddle under. I crawled up next to him and burrowed into his side._

_I found myself playing with my necklace that Derek had bought me during most of the movie. His hand moved from my back and came around to where the pendant was between my fingers._

_"Have you even taken this off since I gave it to you?" He asked softly._

_"Only to take a shower." I gave a slight shrug. "I like it."_

_He kissed the top of my head and I could hear the smile in his voice without even having to look up at him. "Well, it looks good on you."_

_My phone started ringing, and I looked over to the side table that was on Derek's side of the bed. He picked the phone up and read the name on the screen._

_"You better answer. It's your sister." He handed the phone to me and paused the movie._

_**"Hey Lyds." **__I smiled into my phone. Lydia had been spending a lot of time with Jackson lately and I hadn't heard much from her. So I was happy to hear her voice again._

_**"I hope you don't have plans for tonight."**__ I could hear loud music in the background. This meant that she probably had Jackson with her._

_I looked up at Derek and smiled._ _**"I do actually...why?" **__Lydia always kept me a curious person. She flew which ever direction she wanted to and it was always at random._

_**"Because Jackson and I are coming up to visit you silly. So get your party dress on and those black heels I bought you for Christmas. Curl your hair, and for goodness sake put on an ample amount of makeup. We'll be there in about an hour."**_

_**"But..." **__I was going to tell her that I didn't want to go out._

_She beat me to speaking first._

_**"Love you too sis! See you in an hour. And if you are not ready, I will tie you down and dress you like a Barbie."**__ She went silent and I looked at my phone._

_**"Lydia!**__" The call ended and I tossed my phone on my bed. My little sister was impossible. Absolutely impossible._

_"You up for meeting my crazy little sister in about an hour? They are wanting to go to some parties, and I would love to have you as my arm candy for the night." I looked up at him and smiled sweetly._

_He averted his eyes and looked at the frozen picture on the TV. "I was going to tell you after the movie."_

_"What?" This didn't sound good._

_"I promised Laura that I would help her with something. Which is why I asked if we could do the movie a few hours early." Ahh... he was doing it again._

_The several times that Lydia had come up, Derek always managed to sneak away. Or come up with an excuse to leave. At first I thought it was because he was afraid to meet the family. And then when I finally learned that Derek was a werewolf, I figured that was why he never wanted to meet Lydia. Because he didn't think that it was safe for her. But now he was pulling the same routine._

_He was up and getting his keys to his car when I decided to ask him about hit. "Hey Der..?"_

_"Hmm?" He didn't look up at me, but he did continue to search for his keys._

_"Do you not want to meet Lydia?" I just put it out there._

_He looked up and genuinely looked confused. "Of course I do. Are you kidding me? I told you, I just need to help Laura with some things." He lifted up the pillows, still looking for his keys._

_"They are on the bathroom counter." He smiled at me. Then he leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. "You are an angel."_

_"You better get out of here. Laura gets pissy when you make her wait." He let out a laugh._

_"Isn't that the truth?" He went into the bathroom and came back out with his keys in his hand. "Got them!" He smiled at me. Then he got all serious. "Do may favor though."_

_"What's that?" I sat up a little bit straighter._

_"Just don't bring home any guys tonight."_

_"I mean...You can't expect guys to not hit on me. I'm a hot commodity." I smiled at him. He leaned down and wrapped his arms around my waist._

_"Are you kidding me? You're a geek." He was trying not to smile._

_"A hot geek." I corrected him._

_"My geek." He smiled and then kissed me. "I've really got to go." He pulled back, but not before giving me a kiss on the cheek._

_"I'm wearing the little red dress that you like so much...!" I called after him._

_"You're killing me smalls!" I smiled as he quoted one of my favorite movies._

_I got up from the bed and walked over to my closet. I pulled out the dress that Derek loved and put on the black heels that Lydia requested. I thought about maybe fighting her on it, but then I realized that she would win anyways._

_I put on the make-up and fix my hair. I pulled it up in a messy and curly bun with stray stands coming down around my face. And then I walked over and pushed play on my movie and waited for her to show up._

_-000-_

_A few knocks came at my door and I pushed pause on the movie._

_"Jules! Come and walk your cute butt over here and let me in!" I unlocked the door and opened it to my smiling sister and her grinning boyfriend._

_"Velma..." He pulled me into a hug and I laughed at that ridiculous nickname he had given me when he first started dating Lydia._

_"Always good to see you too Jackson." He pulled back and then I went in to hug Lydia._

_She put her hands up and stopped me. "No hugs until we fix your hair."_

_"My hair is fixed." She walked past me and into the apartment._

_"Well it looks positively atrocious." She poked her lips slightly, like she always did when she insulted someone. "Come. I'll fix it."_

_She motioned for me to follow her into the bathroom. I turned to Jackson._

_"I've learned that it's better if you just go along with her." Jackson advised me._

_"I know. I grew up with her." I walked into the bathroom and let her sit me down._

_"So where is Mr. Hot Stuff?" Lydia grabbed my curling iron and started heating it up._

_"With his sister. She needed his help moving some stuff." I tried to come up with a believable lie. I didn't like lying to Lydia, but I couldn't exactly tell her that he was off doing werewolf related activities._

_"Moving stuff on a Saturday night?" She looked skeptical._

_"Whoa..." I heard hysterical laughing. "Silver Bullet! Man Velma, you really are a geek." Jackson's voice came from inside my bedroom._

_I shook my head at golden boy and looked at Lydia through the mirror. "Yeah. She has to be out by Monday morning and she said she was going to be busy all day tomorrow. So Derek went to go and help her. She's kind of the only thing he has left in this world, so whenever she calls he leaves." I tried to explain without getting into further detail._

_"Well, he has you in this world. And I hope he sees that." She wasn't exactly curing each strand of hair, my hair was already plenty enough curly, she was more or less just touching it up._

_I went to play with my necklace again. "What's that?" She nodded to where I the pendant was._

_"Derek gave it to me." She me a look to explain further. "He has it tattooed on his back. I don't know. It just always fascinated me, so he had a pendent made." I saw her smile and I smiled too._

_"So you guys kind of in a way have matching tattoos." I looked up at her and she shrugged and smirked. "That's cute." She fluffed up the hair in the back and smiled proudly. "There. Now you don't look like a twenties housewife."_

_"You two girls ready to go?" Jackson appeared in the doorway that led to my bedroom._

_"Were you snooping through my stuff?" I narrowed my eyes at him as I questioned him._

_"Who? Me?" He acted offended._

_I walked over and grabbed my keys and opened the door for them leave. Lydia went first and then Jackson leaned in and whispered. "Nice Batman underwear by the way." He winked and I punched him in the arm._

_"You're such a creep!" He laughed and walked out of the door._

_"Just guy. I'm just a guy." We all got into my car and headed off to a party._

_We were almost there when Jackson told me to stop._

_"We want to go to a club." He informed me._

_"Do you have a fake I.D. to get into said club?" He grinned and pulled out his wallet. Lydia handed me hers. I could only glance at them since I was driving, but they looked legit._

_"You're sixteen! Where did you get these? They look fantastic..." I saw Lydia smile in the back seat._

_"They are called boobs. They are great for many things." My sister, a living reincarnation of Aphrodite._

_I pulled up at one of my favorite clubs and got out of the car. Lydia and Jackson started walking up behind me, and then she stopped us all._

_"We have to take a picture." She turned around and then pointed at some guy walking down the street. "Hey! You! Would you mind terribly coming over here and taking a picture of us?"_

_He shook his head no and then he grabbed my phone and Jackson put his arms around Lydia and me. "Okay...smile." The man said._

_He handed me back my phone and I smiled at the picture. We looked great. I sent it to Derek. Along with this text._

**You're missing out on all the fun!**

T_hen I went back to the line with Lydia and Jackson. It was nice seeing her smile and happy._

_**Present Day**_

I glanced over at Isaac and couldn't help but chuckle. I had given him the task of making the arrows. And instead of making them flat and sharp, they were extremely rocky.

"Here let me help you out with that." I took a new piece of steel and brought it over to the sharpening wheel. "The key is keeping the metal light, but dense. The very tip has to be sharp enough to pierce through the skin, and the edges have to be thin enough to glide throw the body." I sharpened the arrow, just as I taught him minutes before. When it was finished, I pulled back and pricked the tip of my finger. "When arrows were first invented. They were a weapon that was meant to slow down an animal enough for a hunter to find quickly and kill." I handed the arrow back to him. "Now, arrows are a weapon that has one purpose. To kill." Isaac held the arrow head in his hands and looked back up at me.

"So has creating deadly weapons always been a hobby of yours?" Isaac's tone was somewhat humorous.

"No. I like creating stuff. When I was little I used to wear around an Iron man shirt and a tutu and pretended that I was his daughter." I went back to the engine that I had been piddling around with. He started laughing and I looked over at him. "What is so funny?"

"I was trying to picture that in my head." He shook his head. "You are definitely pretty enough to be Iron Man's daughter."

That was so sweet. But I didn't know what looks had to do with Iron Man. "So how did you and Derek even meet?"

"Why do you say that like it is an impossible thing?" I watched him walk over and pick up one of the knives I had laying out.

"Well I mean it's just that, you are kind of out of his league right? Smart girls are supposed to settle down with successful and smart guys. Not..."

"Werewolves?" I finished his sentence for him. He gave a sad shrug. "I didn't choose Derek because he was a werewolf. I chose him because he has a good heart. He's just misunderstood is all."

Isaac started laughing hysterically. I looked at him a little taken a back. "It's just. Your life is basically a modern Disney movie."

It was my turn to laugh. "Which one?"

Isaac shrugged and then grinned. "Well, you're beautiful. And Derek is quite literally a beast. So you put it together." He still had the dagger in his hand and he was running it along his hand.

"You should probably be careful there. Those are.."

"Ow..Shit!" He started shaking his hand. The dagger fell to the floor and I rushed over to him.

"Let me see.." I grabbed one of the cloths on the table next to me and pressed it to his hand.

"It's okay." He pulled away gently. "I heal remember?"

I threw my hands up slightly. "Of course you do." I gave out a little laugh. "I'm sorry I just forgot I guess."

Isaac smiled at me. "Can I ask you something?" He grabbed the towel and wiped off the blood from his hand. "Why aren't you with Derek anymore. I mean, I know I'm just a high school kid, but even I can see the sexual tension that is literally floating in the air around you."

I took a deep breath and looked at him. "He left me." I bent over to pick of the knife and then I stabbed it into my table. "Or I think maybe he pushed me away. Whether it was to protect me or not. He chose to leave me."

I looked up at Isaac and he wore a sad expression. Then I looked at my phone and saw that it was nearly five in the afternoon.

"You hungry?" Isaac's eyes lit up. If I knew Derek he probably had this kid eating take out for the past two weeks. A good home cooked meal would probably do him some good.

We were both walking up the stairs when I heard him say, "If I remember correctly. The Beast also pushed Belle away."

We reached the top of the stairs and I turned to face him when we reached the front lobby part of my house. "Disney isn't real life, Isaac." I felt the need to remind him.

"Whatever you say Belle." He smiled widely. I shook my head at him.

"Okay, well if I'm Belle and Derek's Beast, then who does that make you?" I was pulling out ingredients for the raviolis as I spoke to Isaac. "You can be the little teacup." I smiled at him.

I had the ingredients put together in a bowl and was stirring when knocking came at my door. Isaac was still looking at the ceiling thinking about which character he would be.

I opened up my front door and was only a little bit surprised to see Derek standing on my front porch. He walked right in without being invited or saying hello.

"Sure. Come right on in." I closed the door and turned around to see Derek already walking into the kitchen.

"Are you cooking?" He asked when he saw my mess I had already managed to make on the counters.

I walked in and Isaac pointed at me and said, "I'd be that little candle stick guy. I always thought he was funny." He laughed and smiled at me.

"But he's French!" I pointed out to him. "Why would you ever want to be a French guy?"

"Because he was a lady's man, hooking up with the broom and the mop. That's impressive." I started laughing this time and Derek looked like we were speaking a totally different language.

"What are you two talking about?" He asked, completely confused.

"Just a movie." I shrugged off his question.

"Hey Derek," Isaac tried to get Derek's attention from where he was sitting in the corner of the room. "Are you staying for dinner?"

Derek peeked over the counter and looked at where I had the dough flattened out and was now cutting little square pieces out. "That depends." He looked over at me and raised his eyebrows. "Are you making your raviolis?" He asked a little too excitedly and I had to smile a little bit. "Then yes, I will most certainly be staying."

"Jules, you should call Lydia. Then it can be a big huge family dinner." Isaac grabbed an apple from the bowl on the dining room table and started crunching down on it.

"Yes, let's get the town fugitive and the town crazy person together in the same room. That's a brilliant idea. Really Isaac." Derek looked at Isaac like he was an idiot and I started laughing. I saw a hurt expression cross over Isaac's face and I instantly felt a ping of guilt in my stomach.

"I'm not laughing at you sweetheart." I told him seriously. "Derek doesn't want Lydia here because he has a fear of meeting people's families." I had turned around and went back to cutting squares.

"How do you figure that?" Derek instantly perked up and had walked into the kitchen now.

"Because any time I had tried or asked you to meet Lydia, you made some excuse to not be around to do so." I said it simply.

"That's not true…" I looked up at him and he took it back. "But you said that you understood. You said that you were okay with me not being there." I looked up at him from where I was cutting.

"Are you kidding me? I knew you were lying every time you made up an excuse. I just didn't want to argue with you or cause problems. I didn't want to push on you and lose you." I gave a small shrug and went back to cutting up the dough.

"It wasn't because I just didn't want to meet her…"

I stopped him before he could go on any further. "Look Derek, why you did what you did, doesn't really matter anymore. Whether you did it to protect them, keep them out of danger, or whatever. It doesn't matter. Not anymore."

He took a few more steps towards me and I turned me around to face him. "What about me? Do I matter?"

"Well, I am going to take that as my cue to leave…away from here…like upstairs." I didn't look at Isaac as he left, but I listened to his footsteps as he walked through the living room and up the stairs.

"Derek…" I looked down at the floor avoided all eye contact. If I looked into his eyes, then I would go weak.

"You still wear the necklace Jules. That tells me that I still matter." He whispered into my ear.

My fingers found the pendant hanging around my neck. At first I wore the necklace as a symbol of my love for Derek. Then I wore it as a symbol that this world can take what you love most and destroy it. I wore it as a reminder of that.

I looked up at Derek and narrowed my eyes slightly. "Are you sure you want to have this conversation right now?"

"I've wanted to have this conversation ever since you came back into my life." He said firmly.

I reached up and unlocked the chain that was holding the weight of the pendant. For the first time in months I felt the weight of it move. I grabbed the pendant and held out Derek's hand. When I placed the pendant in his hand, I looked up at him. He was completely frozen with confusion.

"I'm not back in your life Derek. Not really. I came back to Beacon Hills, and by some odd chance that was where you were too." I closed his fingers around the necklace. "You once told me that this symbol had different meaning to many people. To me, it stands as a reminder that this world will suck you up, spit you out, and suck you back up again. I can't let that happen to Lydia. I can't let that happen to her or these kids that you have kind of adopted. I'm here for them."

Derek squeezed the necklace in his hand. Then he dropped his arm back down by his side. "You will always matter to me Derek. You know that. But we can't be what we used to be." I cupped his cheek with my hand. "I will stand by your side. I will help you get through whatever it is that this world decides to throw at you. I promise you that. But I don't want to be with you. I can't be with you. I'm sorry." My words broke and cracked on the last little part.

He leaned his forehead onto mine. "I need you Jules. I never thought I would need anyone anymore, but I need you." His voice was so low that it was barely a whisper.

"I'm right here Derek. I told you that I wouldn't leave you. I'll stay by your side. But that's all I can do."

Derek pulled back so fast that I nearly fell forward. He swallowed hard and then looked directly at me.

"If that is how you feel, then I guess that is something that I will have to deal with." He said through tight lips.

"Thank you."

He started walking through the kitchen and back towards the front door. "But Jules," I stepped around the corner where I could see him. "You matter to me more than you will ever know. You need me to back off right now, and I get that. But I won't do that forever." He left through the front door and I found myself being able to breathe again. That was a conversation that she didn't really want to have.

"A tale as old as time…." I turned around and saw Isaac dancing and singing in the living room. I picked up the knife that I had been slicing dough with and threw it at him. He caught it. "They could have seriously hurt me."

"You heal." I said a little grumpily. He walked over and gave me the knife.

"Hey." I piled up all of my little squares. "I'm sorry." I looked up at him. What was he sorry for? "That stuff with you and Derek seemed pretty sad. And I just wanted to say thank you." I looked up at him. "And whatever you want me to do, I'll do it."

"Isaac," He looked up at me earnestly. "Shut up and bring me that pan right there." I smiled at him. I didn't want him thinking that he owed me anything, because he didn't.

"Yes ma'am." He smiled and came over quickly with the pan.

We spent the rest of the night cooking and watching a movie. Isaac was like a cute little puppy. I could see why he was Derek's favorite out of the three.

"Hey.." I heard a voice, but I was hoping that it was just in my dream. "Belle…" Dear Lord, I knew it wasn't in my dream now.

"What do you want Isaac?" I put a pillow over my head, and tried to drown out the sunshine.

"I was kind of hoping that you could take me over to Derek's." I moved the pillow and looked up at him.

"Isn't that in his job description?" I looked over at the clock and it read five o'clock. "Are you kidding me? Birds aren't even up this early!" I groaned and rolled over.

"Okay, I'll just call Derek then." I looked up and over at him. His face had dropped real low and he was walking out of my room.

I threw the pillow at him. And it hit him in the side of the head. "You will do no such thing! Give me twenty minutes." Isaac smiled and nodded his head.

-000-

We pulled up at Derek's warehouse about thirty five minutes later. I had to sneak Isaac out of the house in a jacket and hoodie. He even had to lay down in the back seat so no one would see him and possibly recognize him in my passenger seat. Taking in a fugitive probably wasn't the brightest idea I had, but what else was I going to do? I couldn't just let the kid stay at that old warehouse with Derek. That was no place for a kid.

"So, how does he train you?" I was positive he didn't train them the same way he trained me.

We were walking into the warehouse and I saw Isaac take a deep breath. "Watch."

He nodded to where Erica was rushing at Derek. Derek threw her down to the ground with one hand. He used next to no force what-so-ever.

"Come on!" Derek screamed, but it came out as more of a growl. This time both Erica and Boyd came after him. Erica flipped and Boyd jumped over some obstacles. Derek smashed them both to the ground with a hand at both their necks.

"My turn." I looked over at Isaac and saw him grin before he started running after Derek. I saw it happen before he even did it. Isaac came up from behind him and he spun around and slammed him to the ground with ease.

I watched as Erica picked herself up and then Isaac crept around back again. They both lunged at Derek. I don't know what made them think that it would work a second time since Boyd and Erica failed the first time. Erica came at him first and he hit her with force this time. When Isaac came at him, Derek flipped him over and I heard a bone crack.

"Would one of you try not being completely predictable?" Erica grunted and pushed herself up and off the ground. She jumped on top of him, literally, and wrapped her legs around him and started kissing him. To my surprise, he actually kissed her back; but only for a moment before he threw her down on the ground again.

Derek glanced back at me and then glowered at Erica. "You will never try that again." He reprimanded her, and I couldn't help the small laugh that escaped my lips.

"Because of her?" Erica asked in disgust as she looked in my direction.

"No, because I have someone else in mind for you." Derek quickly corrected her. I smiled sweetly at her and she rolled her eyes.

I stepped up behind Derek, and quickly pulled my knife out of boot and stabbed him in the leg. I knew it wouldn't hurt him, but it would teach the kids a lesson.

"What the hell Jules?" Derek turned and looked at me. He pulled the knife out and stared at me in shock.

"Don't be such a baby. It wasn't laced with wolfs bane and I know that it didn't hurt you that badly." I grabbed the knife out of his hands and looked at the others before I looked back at Derek. I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. "You wanted unpredictable. Well, did you see that coming?"

Derek kept his mouth shut. And I heard some small noise come from where Isaac was still on the ground. "I think that I am going to need a few hours to heal from all of these broken bones."

Derek walked over and grabbed him by the hand. When Derek bent Isaac's arm backwards I heard the most awful cracking sounds. He had just broken his arm, and it was confirmed that he had broken his arm when we all heard Isaac scream out in pain.

"Are you crazy?!" I screamed at Derek as I bent down and checked on Isaac. He bent the arm back into place, and I ran my hands over his arm.

"I'm not teaching you all to fight. I'm teaching you to survive." Derek spoke in such a commanding voice. I stood up and faced him, I was the only one brave enough to do so.

"This is not the way to teach them how to survive. You are having them come at you and defeat you. You want them to be strong? Make them work as a pack. Make them work together." I turned to face all three of them.

"You want to survive the hunters? You want to survive this creature? You have to remember your human side. You have to remember how you would approach things if you weren't animals. Because that's how the hunters are going to be thinking. Their sole purpose in life is to _hunt _you. They hunt you like a pack of animals because you behave like a pack of animals. You're smarter than that. Use that. You figure out what each person's strengths are and you hone in on that. You use that too. That's how you win. That's how you survive." I saw Boyd staring at Derek, probably waiting to see if he had something to add. Isaac was smiling at me and Erica looked disgusted.

She looked up at me and smirked. "Nice speech. Ever think about running for president?" She raised an eyebrow at me.

I leaned down and got on her eye level. "Let me let you in on a little secret sweetheart, you can listen to me and Derek and survive. Or you can continue to think that you don't need anyone and you will die. It's your choice." I stood back up.

"You don't know what you are talking about. You're not like us. You don't know what it takes to survive." She still had that disgusted look on her face and I thought about that for a second.

I decided to show her something, show all of them something that would hopefully earn a little bit of their trust.

I pulled up my shirt and revealed the scar I had that reached from the tip of my shoulder blade down to the middle of my shoulder blades. So small that you would have to be looking to see it, and usually my hair covered it up. I looked up at Derek. He never knew about the scar because they had happened after he left me. I thought I could go out and try to find him because I knew a little about werewolves. I thought I was strong enough, when in reality, I was just out of my mind.

"I thought once that I could go out alone, and try to find one of you." I kept my eyes on Derek the whole time. He had his mouth clenched shut and I saw a tick in his jaw. "I was emotionally hurt and I wasn't thinking clearly and I was attacked. But what saved me was the fact that he had a mind set of an animal." I pulled my shirt back down. "He wasn't thinking about how he wanted to kill me, he just wanted me dead. So I took advantage of that blind rage and I backed up towards a tree where I had a trap set. The werewolf was so caught up with wanting to see my blood that he didn't think about what I was doing out in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night. I trapped him and questioned him, and once I got nothing out of him, I left him there. I didn't kill him." I looked over at Erica. "I am on your side; whether you want to believe that or not. I want to protect you."

I could see that Derek was about to send them away to question me about what I just told all of them, but I was saved by the ringing of my cell phone.

"_Hey mom, is everything alright?" _My parents haven't exactly kept in touch with me since I have been back. The only time they called was when they needed Lydia out of their hair, or something was wrong with her again.

"_I don't want to bother you… but it's your sister." _Called it.

"_Is Lydia okay?" _Something very bad was happening with Lydia. Nobody was really sure what it was, but something strange was going on with her.

"_I found her in her room this morning, and there was blood everywhere. She's fine. Don't worry. She punched her mirror. I just don't understand what is going on with her Julie. I was hoping maybe you could talk to her. I set her up an appointment with the school therapist and she promised me that she would go, but I know that she trusts you." _Punched a mirror? That was odd for Lydia. Mirrors were usually her best friends.

"_I'll talk to her mom." _I literally heard the relief rush out of her body. She hated ever having to play mother, and since I was home she knew she wouldn't have to do it anymore.

"_Oh thank goodness. Okay, well we love you sweetie!" _I hung up the phone and turned around to see Derek talking to the others about this new creature that was in town. The same creature that had killed Isaac's dad. Derek hadn't told me much about it, other than the fact that is was basically impenetrable.

"Have we found out anything else about it?" I threw myself into the conversation.

"Nothing. I haven't seen it yet. Just heard about it. I plan on asking Stiles more about it later." Derek started walking towards me and I could see it in his eyes. He was going to ask me about my scars. And I didn't want to confront him about it, not yet. I knew he would be pissed about me going after him when he left.

But I felt like I didn't have a choice. I was hoping to find a werewolf and then they tell me where Derek was. I was hurt and I was sad and I wasn't thinking clearly.

"Okay, well I need to get home and get some stuff done. You ready to go Isaac or do you want me to just come back for you?" I knew that he would be more than willing to come with me.

"Oh, sure I'll come with you. Help you out and stuff." Isaac stood up and I could see that he was still hurting from the beating that Derek gave him.

I gave him a small smile and wave and headed out towards my car. Derek caught up with me quickly and grabbed my arm lightly.

"Why didn't you ever tell me that you went looking for me?" He asked, clearly concerned.

"Because you had broken my heart, and you had left. I didn't think that I needed to tell you that I came looking for you." I pulled my arm out of his grasp and began walking towards my car. I was starting to think that things with Derek were never going to get easier.

-000-

Isaac and I were back at my house in no time. I was folding laundry when Isaac walked over and looked at me real serious like.

"Spit it out Isaac." I smiled at him.

"Have you seen Cam anymore?" He blurted the words out all in one breath. He seemed so nervous anytime he spoke about Camden.

"Not since the last time I told you about." I looked up at him and saw sadness cross over his face. "Why do you ask?"

He was quiet for a moment and then gave me a short shrug. "I was just curious I guess." I let it go.

Then a few minutes later he spoke again, "Do you think that maybe you could invite him over here?" I gave him a warning look. "I know that I can't see him or anything, I just…I think it would be nice to just hear him you know?" I looked at him and I thought about what he was asking. Derek wouldn't be happy about it. But what did Derek's opinion matter right now anyways.

"I'll invite him over tonight." I said finally. Isaac smiled and this time it reached his eyes.

"Thanks Belle." He smiled at me and I shook my head.

"I told you not to call me that." I reminded him. "But there is a condition. I'm inviting Lydia to come over first. I need to talk to her about a few things. This means you have to stay hidden and you have to stay very quiet.

"Got it. I'm Harry Potter and you're my awful aunt that keeps me locked up." He smirked and I reached my foot out to kick his ass but he moved away to fast.

-000-

Lydia was over an hour later. And I was expecting Camden to come over in a few hours. I opened up the door to my sister's impatient face.

"Really Jules. You're twenty three. You should be able to dress yourself at this point in life." She walked right past me and started heading up the stairs.

I walked into my room and she was already going through the clothes in my closet. "So what's the plan?"

"He's bringing over some movies. And we'll probably just hang out and talk some. It's not really a date." I had to remind her. If I didn't, then she would go all overboard with dressing me up.

"Okay, so you are going to put on these pants, with this shirt and then this cami underneath." She handed me black pants with a dark green see through shirt and a really dark purple cami to go under the green shirt. It actually looked comfortable and kind of my style.

"Wow, you work fast. Thanks sis." I gave her an appreciative smile.

"Well, I am kind of on a tight schedule. There's a game tonight and I still have to get ready. So, I'm just going to go now." She headed down the stairs, and I ran after her.

"Lyds! Wait up." I beat her to the front door. "I was hoping that maybe we could talk for a minute."

She paused and pursed her lips for a minute. "Mom called you didn't she?" She didn't even have to ask it as a question. She knew it was the truth.

"We are all worried about you Lydia." I tried to reason with her.

"Well, you are all worrying over nothing. I'm fine." Lydia said defensively. I didn't know what was going on with her. Normally she would be able to talk to me about anything. And now I couldn't get her to open up even if I had a can opener.

"It's okay to open up to people sometimes Lyds." I spoke softer.

"Yeah…I'm going to go to the game now before you start to want to share your feelings even more. Goodnight Dr. Phillis." She smiled and walked out my door.

I groaned and I heard laughter coming from the banister above my head.

"Shut up Isaac."

"I just find it funny that you are frustrated, but she acts just like you do. Both of you are stubborn as hell." He laughed some more and I thought that he better be glad that I didn't have anything that I could throw at him.

-000-

Camden came knocking on the door as I was getting glasses out to fix us something to drink. I looked at Isaac and mouthed for him to go up the stairs and stay quiet.

I answered the door and greeted Camden with a smiling face.

He held up a bag and smiled. "I brought movies and popcorn."

"Well in that case, please come on in." I moved out of the door way and he walked past me. "Go on ahead and pick the movie. I'll get us something to drink and meet you in the living room."

When I did finally walk into the living, I saw that he had Jaws playing. Old school movie, I was impressed.

-000-

The movie was over and I looked at Camden.

"So can I ask you something?" He looked at me, a little curious, but smiled anyways.

"Shoot." He grabbed a handful of popcorn and looked at me.

"So what is the real story of Camden Lahey. I have been hearing all kinds of rumors about you."

"Like what?" He inquired.

"Like you were supposed to be dead." I just dived on in there. There was no need in beating around the bush about this. Isaac needed to know, and I promised I would figure it out for him.

Camden grew real quiet. And then he finally spoke. "You can't listen to the rumors in Beacon Hills. People are crazy in this town." He shook off my question.

"Maybe, but there's always some truth to rumors right?" I pushed again, but it didn't seem like Camden was going to bite.

I heard my phone ringing, but I pushed the ignore button. I couldn't deal with Derek's crap at this moment.

"You could have taken that." Camden nodded to my phone, but I waived him off.

"Actually can you excuse me for just a minute?" Camden nodded and I went straight up the stairs.

I went into the room that Isaac was in and shut the door.

"He isn't talking. I've tried every approach and he won't open up for nothing." I ran my hand through my hair, a little frustrated.

Isaac shrugged like the answer was simple. "Get him drunk. Camden is always very talkative when you get him drinking."

"Are you kidding?" I looked at Isaac and he looked back up at me. Of course he wasn't kidding. I nodded and headed back down the stairs.

"You want something a little bit stronger to drink? My dad bought me house warming bourbon, but I haven't had anyone to really drink it with." I offered and I saw it in his eyes that he was going to take me up on my offer.

"Of course. A drink sounds really good actually." I smiled and walked over and poured us a drink.

-000-

An hour and a half later, and about five drinks later, Camden was sitting on my couch and looking up at the ceiling. I had spilled about everything that was going on with Lydia. I hoped that if I spilled my guts, then he would spill his.

"Taking care of people is so hard. No matter what, you will find yourself failing in one way or the other." He mumbled.

"What do you mean?" When I was in the Special Forces, I had my own group of men. I handpicked them right? So I of course I only picked the biggest and toughest men. I thought they were going to be invincible." His voice started to trail off, and I knew I had him exactly where I needed him. "But no one is invincible. No one."

"What happened?" I spoke softly to prompt him to continue.

"They all died." My breath caught in my chest. I hadn't expected that to come out of his mouth. "We were on a secret mission and we were ambushed. Guns were fired and the next thing I knew my men were falling down like bowling pins around me. At first I thought I was dead too. I sat there, covered in splattered blood of my men, and my ears ringing from all the gunfire. The guys that attacked us thought I was dead too. And I probably should be. The guys that attacked us were some of our own. Commanders at that. So I took off my dog tags and put them on another man. I faked my own death to investigate the bastards that killed my men. For a year, a full year, I was known as a dead man. But then one day, I got them. I finally got them. And then I was released. I hopped on the first train back here. But when I got here, my world fell apart. My dad is dead and the cops think that my brother was the one to kill him off." I reached over and grabbed his hand. I saw that his eyes were starting to tear up and I felt bad. This was not my intention.

"Ever since I was a boy, I had looked after him. He was my responsibility. Then I left. That was my first mistake, was leaving. I never should have done that. I knew how my father was. And I left anyways. God, I was so selfish!" I squeezed his hand.

"No. I'm sure that Isaac understood." I tried to reassure him, but I don't think that it worked.

"He was my baby brother. I should have stayed and protected him. That's what brothers do. They don't just leave." Camden had his head in his hands. I started rubbing his back. Maybe the alcohol wasn't such a good idea. He was getting overly emotional, and I knew it was because he had drunk too much.

"I'm going to go and get you a cold glass of water." I stood and got him a glass.

When I came back over to the couch he was leaned back and asleep. Bless his heart. I didn't want to wake him up, and he wasn't in any shape to drive. So I just very carefully pulled off his shoes and laid him back fully on the couch. I covered him up and cut out the light.

At least now we know what happened. Camden didn't lie. He didn't purposefully let Isaac know he was dead. He was a hero.

**Hey guys! I am so sorry about the extra long length of this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it though!**

**Let us know what you all are thinking and liking about the story! Or not liking! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. We love hearing from you guys. **

**Thank you to anyone and everyone who are fans of the story and to the ones that are just now reading it. We love having more readers!**

**Much love to all of you!**

**-Makayla **


	10. Chapter 10

_**Flashback- (Derek and Julie are eating lunch out in town)**_

"_I think that I want to have a small dinner party." I announced to Derek as he was getting ready to eat his meal. _

"_Dinner party?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "Do I have to come?" Most boyfriends would say that jokingly, but not Derek. He was dead serious. He hated any kind of social gathering._

"_Yes." I said in a tone that Derek knew was final and he had no chance in arguing with me._

"_How many people?" He asked in a sigh._

"_Just three…" He looked at me and knew that I was up to something._

"_Who would be the third person?" Derek asked a little too cautiously, like he knew what I was going to say._

"…_.Laura." I said carefully. Derek began to open his mouth, but I beat him to speaking. "I know. I know. She doesn't really do family dinners or anything like that. But I want her to feel welcomed around me." I dropped my fork down on my plate. "I just want her to like me."_

"_She does like you." Derek reached across the table and took my hand. "Trust me, if she didn't, then you would know." He said with a slight laugh. _

"_I know. But I want to do something nice for her. Make an effort to have some kind of friendship with her." I explain. I saw that Derek still wanted to talk me out of it. "Please Der…?" I begged. I grabbed his hand with mine and brought his palm to my lips and I kiss the meat under his thumb. "Pretty please?"_

"_You know, I never understood what the physical appearance of the please had to do with anything…. But if you really feel the need to do this, then who am I to stop you?" I got all giddy and I wanted to reach over and wrap my arms around him and kiss him. But we were in public. _

_Instead I waited until we got back to my apartment. I let him shut the door and then I smiled widely at him. _

"_What?" He asked when he saw my smile._

"_Has anyone told you that you are the best boyfriend ever?" I walked up to him and he leaned back against the door. _

"_Well there was this one girl…" He said, but I reached up and put my arms around his neck._

"_Oh shut up…" I whispered before I leaned in to kiss him._

_I felt him smile against my lips. "That felt like a special kiss. Was it a special kiss?" He kept his arms around my waist. _

"_It was a thank you kiss." I said simply. "For being so nice about the Laura dinner thing."_

_He raised his eyebrow as I kicked off my heels and placed them by the door. _

"_I should be nice more often…" He said suggestively. _

_I grabbed his hand and started leading him to the bedroom. "Let me show you what being nice gets you exactly…" _

_~{}~{}~{}~_

"_Babe, what exactly are you doing?" Derek walked into the kitchen and laughed at me. _

"_You said that her favorite meal was homemade chicken pot pie. So I attempted the dough, but it didn't work. So I bought all new ingredients and I've tried again." I walked over to the counter. And pointed out the pies. "And then you said that you couldn't remember her favorite kind of pie. So I am making her like ten different kinds of pie."_

_He walked over and wiped some flour off of my face. And then smiled at me like I was a pitiful mess. "Why are you making ten pies? One pie is enough."_

"_Because pie is really important. It's the dessert. Desserts are always the most important part of the meal. And if I have her favorite, then she will like me."_

"_For having her favorite pie?" I had picked up one of the serving dishes when he said that. _

_I turned around and looked at him frustratingly. "Don't mock me. I told you pies are important." I had apparently thought that I could talk with my hands. Big mistake._

_The serving dish crashed to the floor and I dropped down to immediately start cleaning up the mess. I grabbed a large piece of the glass and pulled my hand back. Scarlet red spilled out on the floor. _

"_What did you do?" Derek asked as I rose up and held a towel to the cut. _

"_Well, obviously I cut myself." Derek rushed to the bathroom and brought back some wrap and gauze and stuff. _

"_Let me see it…" I placed my hand out for him and he started cleaning my wound up._

_After he finished wrapping it he leaned down and kissed it. _

_He looked up and me and then kissed me too. "She's going to love dinner." He looked at the counter. "And all the pie." He smiled._

"_I've made such a mess…" I said as I looked at the ground and all the broken glass that now covered it. _

"_I'll clean it up. And I'll put the pot pies in the oven." He looked at me. "You go and get cleaned up and ready. I'll get everything ready here."_

_I nodded my head and did as I was told. He was right. I really needed to calm down. Everything was going to be fine._

_~{}~{}~{}~_

_Laura had arrived and dinner had gone surprisingly well. That was until we reached dessert time. I brought all the pies out and Laura looked at me like I was that evil witch in the Hansel and Gretel fairytale. _

"_Derek couldn't remember your favorite. So I made: Apple, Cherry, Blackberry, Chocolate, Blueberry, Raspberry, Pumpkin, Banana, Apricot, and Coconut." I announced. _

"_Coconut?" Laura asked with a raised eyebrow. "I never even heard of Coconut." She laughed. "I didn't know you were a baker…" She said._

"_Just please tell me that out of all of these, at least one of them is your favorite." I was so nervous. I couldn't tell you why I was nervous but I was._

"_Oh …yeah… it's..." She looked around the table. "It's banana." She smiled up at me. _

_I felt a huge weight life off of my chest and I shared a look with Derek. He smiled over at me and I nodded._

_The rest of the night was kind of awkward if I was being honest. I dropped another plate. I burned one of the pot pies. I now had nine uneaten pies. And Laura was having a terrible time._

_I was sitting outside on the back patio when Laura came outside. I felt terrible that I tried so hard to make her feel welcomed here, and all I did was make her feel uncomfortable. _

"_Hey Jules." She said as she sat down next to me._

"_I'm sorry." I blurted out. I knew that Laura appreciated honesty._

"_For what?" She asked, and she seemed genuinely surprised at my apology._

"_For all of…this." I motioned inside. _

_He started laughing and I looked down at the ground. It seems as if laughing at me ran in the family. _

"_I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh." I looked at her. "It's just that I've never had someone try so hard to impress me and then apologize for doing so."_

"_I just wanted to feel comfortable around me. Welcomed to be around you know." I spoke honestly again._

"_I do feel comfortable around you." I looked over at her, this time me being the one that was surprised. _

"_Julie. I've honestly never seen my brother so happy before." She paused and seemed to think about something. "Well, once, but that was a very long time ago."_

"_Bottom line, you're smart, you're beautiful, you're genuine, you know our secret and still choose to be around us, and you make Derek happy." I smiled at her compliments. I expected that she didn't hand them out lightly. "So you're okay in my book."_

"_Unless I hurt him right? Then you'll kill me?" I asked before she had a chance to give me the infamous protective sister speech._

"_No. If you hurt him, I'll torture you slowly and then kill you." She smiled sweetly._

"_Of course you will." I nodded my head._

_She stood up to go back inside. "Hey Laura?"_

_She looked down at me. "What's your real favorite pie?" I knew it wasn't banana and that she was lying earlier. _

_She smiled at the fact that I knew she had been lying. "Lemon Meringue." I shook my head. How could I forget that one?_

_**Present Day- (Julie wakes up in her bed)**_

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I had a fugitive in my house and his brother on my couch. I had come home to Beacon Hills to get away from all the craziness. And now I have only wrapped myself up tighter in it.

I rose up and nearly screamed. Isaac was asleep on my floor and leaning up against my wall. I grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.

"Wake your creeper butt up, Lumiere." Isaac swatted at the pillow like he was swatting at a fly. He looked up at me with his eyes squinted.

"Lumiere? Who the hell is Lumiere?" He stood up and ran his hands over his face and through his hair.

"Are you kidding me? You demand to be the candlestick in your little recasting of the Beauty and the Beast, but you don't even know your own character's name?" I shook my head at him. "That's pitiful."

He tilted his head and looked up at the ceiling. "Lumiere…. I thought he was a French chemist?"

I made a small sound of surprise. "I'm impressed. He was a French chemist. But it also means light in French."

Now Isaac made a sound of surprise. "What are you doing sleeping on my floor?" I asked the most obvious question that I probably should have started with.

"Oh! Well, uh... You see, Cam was stumbling around and looking for a bathroom last night. I was walking past your door when he was coming back through. I slipped in here, because I knew that he wouldn't open up that door since it was your bedroom. He was so drunk that he sat on the stairs for about an hour. I was waiting in here for him to leave, and I guess I fell asleep. Sorry…" He had his hand on the back of his neck and looked at me apologetically. He looked adorable, and I couldn't even pretend to be mad at him.

"Is he still downstairs?" I looked at Isaac and saw him shrug his shoulders.

"I've been asleep. But I haven't heard anything." I nodded my head.

I got up from the bed and grabbed my lighter robe. "Well, I better go downstairs and check on our guest." I smiled at him. "Want a cup of coffee or anything?"

I looked up at Isaac with a smile, but it dropped when I saw that he was wearing a serious expression. "I want to see him."

I shook my head no. "You know you can't do that. Not right now. Not while the cops still think that you murdered someone."

"Not someone. My father. It's okay, you can say it." I gave him a sympathetic small smile. I knew his dad wasn't a nice guy, but he was still his father.

"I can't let you go down there Isaac." I said sadly. "I'm so sorry…"

Isaac started nodding his head, and I saw that his lips were in a thin line. "Then I will get my name cleared." He said it like it was something that could be done simply.

"And how are you going to do that?" I asked skeptically.

"I'm going to find Jackson and make him retract his statement about me and my dad fighting that night. That's the only lead they have on his murder. If I get rid of that, then they can't hold the charges on me." He spoke like he was thinking out loud.

"Just promise me that you won't hurt him." I begged. I knew that Jackson could be an ass, well actually he was an ass, but he was still like a little brother to me in some ways. I didn't want to see him get hurt.

"Why do you care so much about him? He broke up with your sister, and he's doing everything he can to screw over the pack. So why do you still want to protect him?" Isaac asked in disbelief.

"Because we have history. He broke up with Lydia because he is scared. You don't understand him like I do. I don't want him hurt." I looked at him more seriously. "You owe me that." The last part I knew would get him. He did owe me that, and I knew he knew that.

"Alright. I won't hurt him." Isaac said, defeated.

I nodded my head one last time before I headed down the stairs.

I reached the last step and saw that Camden was still asleep. Bless his heart. I knew it wasn't easy to tell me what he did last night. He basically spilled his guts and soldiers didn't do that. Then again I abused the power of alcohol, so I guess that made me the bad guy.

I walked over to the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. I was getting two cups out of the cabinet when I heard Camden moving slightly on the couch.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty." I smiled at him. He looked up at me, a little groggily. I poured him a cold glass of water and took two aspirin over to him.

"I prefer Ariel." He smiled at me. He leaned his head back after he took the pills. I laughed a little bit at his Disney princess reference. I chuckled again at the frequent Disney usage in conversation from the past few days.

"Why Ariel?" She was probably the most annoying to guys because she didn't speak for half the movie.

"I liked her hair." She was the only redheaded princess, I knew that much. I decided to ignore that comment because I didn't know what to say to it.

"Well, how are you feeling this morning? I have a pot of coffee brewing if you want some." He looked at me and gave me a sweet smile. "I also have tea, if you'd rather have that. But I find that caffeine helps with the hangover."

"Has anyone ever told you that you were an angel?" I honestly thought about that.

"I don't think so." I shook my head.

Camden pulled out his phone and I assumed checked the time. "Dear Lord, I need to get going." He groaned.

"But first let me make you a cup of Joe to go." I said cheerfully. I honestly didn't have a problem with him being here. But with his fugitive brother secretly upstairs, I figured it was a good idea for him to leave. So I didn't argue with him.

I patted his knee before standing and told him to give me a minute. I got out a to-go cup and poured him a cup. I asked him his cream and sugar preference, but just like a soldier, he wanted it black. I shook my head as I handed it to him. I didn't see how people could drink it like that.

I sat back down with my own cup of coffee. I set the cup down on a coaster on my table.

Camden reached over and placed squeezed my hand lightly, but it only lasted a second. He did that thing that Isaac always does. He wanted to squeeze my hand, so he did. But now he was second guessing whether he should have done it or not.

"I've only know you for like a week, and you have already proven to be a better friend that most people I have been friends with for years." That compliment made my heart feel warmer. That was another thing that he and Isaac had in common. They could really make a person feel better about themselves.

"Well, you are welcome." I smiled at him.

He looked at his phone again and stood up. He took in the sight of the pillow and covers and then looked at me. "Don't worry about it. I'll clean it up." I waved off his worried expression.

He gave me an appreciative smile and then I walked him to the door. "Next time we hang out, I promise that I won't get so drunk that I pass out on your couch."

"Sounds like a plan." I said with another smile before closing the door.

I went back to my chair and put on the morning cartoons. The really old ones. Nothing could beat them.

~{}~{}~{}~

I was sitting there with my second cup of coffee and still watching the cartoons with Isaac sitting on the end of the couch with the pillow in his lap. He had made himself a scrambled egg sandwich. I laughed when he laughed so hard he nearly spit out his mouthful of eggs.

The doorbell rang and I walked over to the front door with my cup of coffee in hand. I pulled the door open and wasn't surprised at all to see that it was Derek.

"Are you going to wait for an invitation this time, or just walk in anyways?" I asked him, only partly joking.

He walked through the doorway, just to be a jerk. "Hey Isaac." He nodded his head to the boy. Then something seemed to catch his attention. He walked into the living room and I closed to door before following him. He looked at the couch and then looked at me. "Are you making him sleep on the couch?"

He seemed to be offended by this. I took it as his alpha protectiveness coming through.

"No. That's where Camden slept." I said without really thinking. I saw the anger flare in his eyes.

"Camden? As in Camden Lahey? Isaac's brother?" I laughed at Derek's three questions that were all asking the same thing.

"Yes. The cute, soldier, older brother of Isaac. That's right." I head Derek give out a very low growl.

"Is that why you weren't answering the phone last night. I must have called you twenty times." Derek sounded frustrated. "And then I called you some more this morning. But it went straight to voice mail." I walked over and picked up my phone from the small stand next to Isaac. Sure enough it was dead.

"It must have died. Sorry about that." I shrugged my shoulders at Derek.

"And what? Were your hands too busy to plug it into a charger? What were you doing last night with Camden?" I gripped my cup of coffee a little tight and glared at Derek.

"I sat on the couch and listened to him break down crying about Isaac and the war he was in. Sorry, but my phone was the last thing on my mind. He passed out on the couch, and I didn't have the heart to wake him up and make him leave. He had a pretty rough night. And I think that out of the both of us, you are the last one to making any accusations about what I was doing with Camden." I looked at him pointedly. He knew what I meant and I watched as he dropped his anger glare.

I started walking into the kitchen, already angry. Derek hadn't been here but for five minutes and he had my blood boiling.

"It's a Kanima." He said softly.

I looked up at him, lost. "What's a Kanima?"

"The thing that has been killing people. It's a Kanima." Derek said. So that's why he was in such a hurry to get in touch with me.

"But what is it? Why is it killing people?" Derek shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know much about it. But I do have an idea about who it is…" He said without looking me in the eye. Isaac was now by Derek's side. He wasn't speaking, but he was definitely listening to everything that was being said.

Derek looked up and he was almost begging me for something, but I didn't what. "Jackson. I think that it is Jackson." He said a little quietly, but still confidently.

I shook my head furiously. "I think I would know if he was a murdering monster. I've known his since he was a kid, Derek." I tried to reason with him.

"But maybe he has just now become the Kanima." Derek said.

"What do you mean?" I knew he had a theory, and I honestly wanted to hear it.

"I bit him. But he hasn't changed. His body started to reject the bite, but he didn't die. Maybe he has always been a Kanima, but the bite somehow triggered it." Derek offered up his theory.

I thought about it, but I still couldn't believe it. I would know. I know I would know. How could I not know?

"I don't believe that." I shook my head again. "I want you to leave him alone unless you get more proof." I requested of Derek.

"I can't do that." I slammed my coffee cup down on the counter. I was tired of Derek just making decisions without thinking of anyone else but himself. "Jules…"

"Don't Jules me. I'm asking you, no, I'm begging you. Please, don't go after Jackson." Derek started shaking his head, and in frustration, I went to pick up my cup and start furiously washing it.

When I picked it up though, part of it broke. I guess when I slammed it on the counter, it cracked. A piece of the glass cut into my hand and I hissed as I pulled it back. My hand was bleeding and I turned on the faucet to let the cold water wash over it.

"Damn it Jules…" Derek sighed as he came around the counter and began looking for a dish cloth.

"Second drawer to you left." Isaac announced. Derek got a dish cloth and I looked up at Isaac.

"In medicine cabinet, there's a small first aid kit. In that should be some gauze and stuff. Can you get it?" Isaac nodded his head and walked over to get the stuff I requested.

Derek looked at me with a small smile playing on his lips. "Same hand as last time." I thought back to that god awful dinner I tried to impress Laura with. I couldn't help but smile a little bit too.

"I know of a way of testing Jackson without hurting him." Derek said softly.

"And what's that?" Isaac handed the ointment, butterfly stitches, and gauze to Derek. He started patching up my hand.

"Test him with the poison. If he is the Kanima, then it won't affect him." Derek said simply.

And I thought about it for a moment. Derek finished wrapping the gauze around my hand and I looked up at him.

"I'm coming with you." I said as I looked up into his eyes.

"Me too." Isaac pitched in.

"Give us a few minutes to get ready and we'll meet you there." I told Derek. He held my hand for a few seconds longer before nodding his head. He knew better than to argue with me.

Derek left and Isaac smiled at me.

"As cute as that little moment was between you two where he was fixing up your hand, I've got something that is even cuter to show you." He lifted up the coffee cup that had cut me. It had a just a small piece missing at the rim. "It's chip!" He smiled brightly.

"Oh my…. Just shut up Isaac." I shook my head and went upstairs to change.

~{}~{}~{}~

I was standing on the opposite of the small space than Derek. The door opened, and Erica was pushing Jackson down the stairs.

"Hey Jackson." Derek smiled. I knew that smile; it was the smile he got when he had bad thoughts.

"Yeah, hey Jackson." Isaac chimed in, and when I glanced over at him, I saw that he had the same look that Derek had. I don't think that I liked the effect Derek was having on Isaac.

Jackson looked at me. And he looked pissed and shocked. "Jules? What are you doing here? Are you in on this?" Yeah, he was definitely more pissed than shocked.

"I'm here to make sure that he doesn't hurt you." I kept my eyes on Derek. He refused to look at me.

"What happened during the full moon?" Derek asked without looking up at Jackson.

"Nothing. Nothing happened." Jackson said, clearly upset and frightened.

"You're lying." Derek said. "You know what you remind me of Jackson?" Derek asked as he started to put on a pair of black gloves.

No one said anything, and Derek looked up and smiled. "A snake."

He stood up and holding a piece of broken mirror nodded at Isaac and Erica. Erica held Jackson, as Isaac forced his mouth open and tilted his head back. Derek leaned the end of the mirror into Jackson's mouth and a drop of liquid came off the mirror and entered Jackson mouth.

Erica and Isaac let him go and Derek looked up at me. I took that as my permission to go to Jackson. I rushed to his side, and felt his body go limp in my arms.

I looked up at Derek and glared at him. "Are you happy now?" I asked him furiously. There was no need to do this, although I knew it was better than the alternative.

Derek didn't say anything, he and Erica just started walking away. Isaac lingered behind and looked at me. He had a devious look in his eyes and he leaned down.

"You promised." I reminded of his promise to not hurt Jackson.

"There's just one more thing you have to do Jackson…" Isaac told Jackson to retract what he told the cops. He told him that he was to go to the sheriff and tell him that he didn't see anything that night.

And Jackson would do it. I saw the fear in his eyes. I sat there and held him until the paralysis wore off.

~{}~{}~{}~

Jackson was so mad at me for being there when Derek did his test that once he was able to walk he had basically run up the stairs. He wanted to get far away from me.

I went back home and decided to work a little bit down in my shop.

It had only been maybe an hour when my phone started ringing.

"_Hey Jackson. I was hoping that you would forgive me. I'm sorry. But if I wasn't there, Derek probably would have done a lot worse…" _

"_They think it is Lydia." _He interrupted my apology rant.

"_Who thinks it is Lydia?" _I just hoped he didn't say Derek. If Scott and Stiles thought it was Lydia, I knew they wouldn't hurt her. But if Derek, well I honestly didn't know what he would do.

"_Your jerk of a boyfriend's goons. I heard them talking in the hallway. They plan to test Lydia after this class, during chemistry." _I felt my heart go numb.

I had to think fast. _"Jackson, I need you to find Scott and Stiles. Tell them that Derek thinks Lydia is the Kanima. They'll protect her until I can get there." _ He agreed and I hung up the phone. I wiped off my hands.

I ran up the stairs and dialed Derek's number as I grabbed my keys.

It went straight to voicemail. Of course it did.

_Derek. You listen to me. If you lay a single finger on her, I will break it. If you lay a hand on her, I will cut it off. You leave her alone. Or I will go all Columbiana on your asses and kill you all. _

I probably wouldn't really kill them. But I would put them in a hospital. I had a stock of wolfs bane and I'm not afraid to use it.

I drove to the school as fast as I could.

~{}~{}~{}~

I ran into the school and demanded the front desk lady to call up Lydia. She looked at me like I was a rude person, but she did as I asked.

I waited in the lobby. Stiles sent me a text.

**She didn't pass the test. The poison didn't do anything to her.**

Shit. Now Derek would definitely be after her. I tried dialing his number again, but all I got was a voicemail.

_I have a basement full of an arsenal to kick an army of werewolves. And I'm not above using it all on you if you touch her._

I ended the message quickly when I saw Lydia walking up the hallways. She looked cute, shorter cream color dress with a pink jacket. It was very much Lydia.

"Uhh… what are you doing here?" Lydia asked, but once she got closer she shook her head in disbelief. "Mom sent you didn't she? To make sure that I went to my therapy session." I nodded my head.

"Exactly… I tried to tell her to have some faith in you. But you know how mom can be." I lied. Mom never called, but I couldn't let her know that the real reason I was here was to protect her from an alpha that wants to kill her.

"Well, my therapist is in there. And my appointment starts in three minutes. So I guess I am going to go in there now. You can call mom and tell her that I'm being an obedient little child." Lydia said condescendingly and I almost laughed, but I didn't.

Instead I moved out of her way and that's when I heard my phone beep.

**Turn around. I'm outside. **

It was a text from Derek. I turned and saw that he was leaning up against his car, looking at the front of the school.

I marched through the doors and down the steps.

"You bastard. She is my sister!" I shouted. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me out of the parking lot. "Let go of me!"

"Quit screaming at me or someone will come out here." He said harshly.

He stopped and we were standing in the openness of the lacrosse field.

"I haven't touched her Jules…" Derek said more calmly now.

"But you sent Isaac and Erica after her!" I rebutted.

"To test her, that's it!" Derek was lying through his teeth. After everything, he wanted to lie to me. And about my own sister.

"Bullshit!" I spat the word at him. "You're not touching her…" I warned him.

"She didn't pass the test Jules." He reminded of what Stiles said in the text earlier.

I heard a noise and when I turned I saw Scott and Boyd facing off with each other. I started to run over there to them. Scott needed some kind of help.

Derek followed after me. "She didn't pass the test." He repeated and this time Scott looked over at Derek.

"I'm not going to let you kill her." Scott announced. At least I knew I had one werewolf in my corner.

"Who said he was going to do it?" Boyd said. I cut a look at Derek and he averted my gaze.

"Call them off Derek." I demanded. Derek just kept his eyes on Scott. "She's my sister!" I kept thinking that the feelings he had for me would play a bigger role in his decisions than what they were. But when he looked at me, he looked at me with the eyes of an alpha. He wasn't thinking of the Derek that I still loved, he was thinking as the alpha of his pack.

"She might be your sister now, but at night she turns into a homicidal murdering lizard." I shook my head.

"She could be immune." Scott offered out another theory.

"She was bitten by an alpha Scott." He looked at me. "You two don't understand. She's exactly like us. We are all shape shifters." He looked at Scott. "It happens rarely, and it happens for a reason. Sometimes the shape you take reflects the person that you are." He looked at me again. He was trying to reason with me, but he should know that I would protect my sister at all costs. "Even you have cold her cold blooded before." That was true, but I didn't actually mean it. "I've never heard of any one being immune. It doesn't exist. It's never happened."

I took a step closer to him. "What about Jackson?" I challenged his theory. He was bitten by an alpha, and didn't turn or die. Then he was given the poison and was paralyzed. In theory, he was immune to the bite.

Derek opened his mouth to say something, but then I saw him stop and think.

"I have a theory… Somehow Lydia's immune and she passed it on to Jackson." One point for Scott.

"That theory actually makes a lot of sense Derek." I backed Scott up.

"No." Was all Derek said.

"You can't do this Derek!" I felt an involuntary tear drop fall down my face. This was my sister, my baby sister. I wouldn't let him hurt her.

"I can't let her live!" Derek screamed back at me.

"You know, I came out here to talk to you, I was hoping that you would listen. I was hoping that somehow I could convince you to back off. But then again," Scott grinned, and I knew he had a plan. "I wasn't counting on it."

Derek and Boyd took off to find Erica and Isaac. Scott filled me in on the plan. I hugged his neck.

"For a bunch of high school kids, you guys are pretty darn smart. Thank you." I pulled back and Scott smiled.

"We're not going to let him hurt her."

I nodded my head. "Okay. So, you go into the school and see if you can find Isaac and Erica. I'm going to go to the cops and send them over before they can hurt Lydia." Scott headed back towards the school and I got into my car to drive to the police station.

~{}~{}~{}~

An hour later, I pulled up at the house that Scott said they had taken Lydia. I saw Derek and Boyd standing outside. I got out of my car and rushed towards the house.

Derek grabbed me and stopped me though. "If you go in there, they'll hurt you." He said in my ear.

"If they hurt Lydia. I'll hurt them." I threatened.

I couldn't break free of his grip, and I couldn't get free enough to reach down and get the blade that was in my boot. I listened to all the growls and breaking of glass and watched as the lights went out one by one in the house.

The front door opened up, and both Isaac and Erica were thrown out. Scott, Allison, and Stiles stepped out on the front porch. Derek let me go and I smiled up at them.

Derek made some comment about how Scott was already an alpha of his own pack. But I wasn't really paying attention to their conversation. Lydia and Jackson weren't anywhere to be found. That's when we all heard a strange howl/hiss and we all glanced up at the roof. The Kanima was crawling on top of the roof and looking down at us.

Just then Lydia marched out and I could tell that she had been crying and was now currently freaking out.

"Would someone please tell what in the hell is going on?" She demanded.

I rushed up to her and wrapped her up in a hug. She wasn't the Kanima. Jackson was.

~{}~{}~{}~

I got home and found the house empty. I had driven Lydia home myself. I just felt better making sure she was home.

I figured that Isaac would be here by now, then again maybe he knew how pissed off I was that he went after my sister. I understood he was following orders, but I just thought that after everything I had done for him, he would at least have second thoughts about it. Then again, Derek didn't seem to have second thoughts about it either. And I had dated him for years.

A knock came at my door and I figure it was Derek coming to apologize. I thought about not answering it, but the person knocked again. I swung the door open and was pleasantly surprised to find Camden standing on my front porch.

"Hey there." I smiled at him.

He pulled a bottle out from behind his back. It was exactly the same bourbon that we had drank the night before. "This is an apology and a thank you gift, for drinking all your liquor and for you allowing me to crash on your couch." He handed the bottle to me and I graciously took it.

"Come on in." I stepped aside to let him enter the house. I walked into the kitchen to put the bottle up.

My phone started ringing and I saw that it was my mom. "I really should take this. Just give me a minute?"

"Sure. I'm just going to go upstairs and use the bathroom." He jerked his thumb up the stairs and I nodded my head.

The conversation with my mom didn't last too long. She was just asking me about Lydia's therapy and if Lydia had opened up to me at all, which she hadn't.

I hung up the phone and walked up the stairs. I had been on the phone with my mom for like twenty minutes. What had Camden been doing up there?

I looked to the bathroom but the door was open and he wasn't in there. I walked down the hall and found him sitting on one of the guest beds. He was holding something.

"Hey. I thought that you had fallen in or something. What are you doing in here?" He looked up at me and his eyes were deadly.

"What are you doing with this?" He asked so quietly that at first I hadn't thought I heard him correctly.

"Oh, well umm... I'm not sure exactly. Where did you find it?" He held up a little figurine. It looked like an army dude and it was silver.

"This is Isaac's. I gave it to him when he was twelve. Right after I got out of boot camp. I know it is Isaac's because I had 'C.L.' engraved on the bottom of it." He held the bottom of the figurine and pointed to the engraving.

"Oh."I had meant to come with something clever to get me out of this, but 'oh' was what came out of my mouth.

Camden stood up. "You've known where he was the whole time haven't you?" He accused. "Has he been staying here?"

"It's really not that simple." I said, but Camden was calming down at all. So talking reason to him was probably not going to be the easiest thing to do right now.

"I want to see him. Where is he at?" He demanded.

I put up my hand to try and calm him down. "Camden… just wait a second alright?"

He took a step towards me. "Take me to my brother Julie." He said seriously and coldly.

"I can't." I said a little defeated. Right now, I really wanted to betray Derek and Isaac. And I probably should after what had happened today. But I couldn't make myself do it.

"Can't or won't?" He demanded.

"Both." I said as I dropped my head. "He's alright. I can tell you that. He's been safe this whole time, and he is doing better than he ever has been."

"I trusted you." He said with hate coming out of his mouth. "I sat on your couch and told you stuff that I had never told anyone before." He was now feeling betrayed, and rightfully so. "You sat there and listened to me breaking down because I couldn't find him. And you've known where he was the whole time." He stepped by me. "Whatever friendship we just had, is broken. I can't believe you would have done this." He shook his head and started jogging down the stairs.

I followed after him and called out his name but he ignored me. I just lost the only friend I had in this town.

**Hey guys! **

**Long time, no write, I know. I'm sorry about that. But the new chapter is up and I think that it is a pretty good one! **

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**-Makayla & Jen**


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